Soaring questions

1. Regarding SeeYou soaring.......what is "netto"?

2. How exactly do I use the cruise function on my cambridge 302. I
read the manual, still confused.

3. What are some "expert" techniques, in great detail, to use when
looking at a cloud? Not the obvious, concave bottom, dark, solid
formed cu. But some really minute details.

At 00:12 05 September 2009, Spam wrote:
1. Regarding SeeYou soaring.......what is "netto"?

2. How exactly do I use the cruise function on my cambridge 302. I
read the manual, still confused.

3. What are some "expert" techniques, in great detail, to use when
looking at a cloud? Not the obvious, concave bottom, dark, solid
formed cu. But some really minute details.


Netto or cruise measures what the airmass is actually doing by removing
the glider's sink rate, which is especially useful at higher speeds.

You have already mentioned most of the details to look for when assessing
clouds. Can I add that you should look for a cloud that is actively
growing and that you can sometimes see rising tendrils of water vapour
where the thermal is entering the cloud. Clouds can often have more than
one thermal feeding into them, especially big ones later in the day. On
windy days you may find the thermal upwind of the cloud, and on a given
day there may be a pattern as to which side of the cloud you will find the
lift on.

Derek Copeland

I did a google image search for tendrils. And this came up
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...No2ftgfpo7XfDw

Great picture.

On a 2-4 knot day, where the growth of the cloud is hard to see while
your changing positions going 60-75 knots, is there any trick to
really studying the cloud vertical growth? Cumulus boomers are easy
to spot, but an average soaring day, it is hard for me to tell if the
cloud grew upwards, or if it just appears different since I'm flying
along towards it.

At 00:12 05 September 2009, Spam wrote:

3. What are some "expert" techniques, in great detail, to use when
looking at a cloud? Not the obvious, concave bottom, dark, solid
formed cu. But some really minute details.

If you see gliders climbing underneath the cloud, it's a good one. Even
better, in my experience, is birds circling.

Jim Beckman

At 11:55 05 September 2009, Spam wrote:

On a 2-4 knot day, where the growth of the cloud is hard to see while
your changing positions going 60-75 knots, is there any trick to
really studying the cloud vertical growth? Cumulus boomers are easy
to spot, but an average soaring day, it is hard for me to tell if the
cloud grew upwards, or if it just appears different since I'm flying
along towards it.


I try to watch the next likely cu for signs of growth while I am circling
under the previous one, when you get one view every 30 second turn from
the same distance. Also go for the cumulus clouds with the lowest bases,
as they decay from the bottom upwards (a tip given to me by an ex World
Champion).

Derek Copeland