Comments on: Introduction to soaring – what are the
possibilities? Your connection with the sky Tue, 10 Dec 2013
19:04:48 +0000 hourly 1 By: Bill Daniels Sun, 05 Apr 2009
15:39:19 +0000 So, help me out here. How should I state this?
That on a good day a high performance sailplane will find not
just one but many thermals on each glide is beyond question. One
need only analyze the IGC files downloaded from the OLC to see
this.  There are a few inferred qualifiers here. One is that the
pilot doesn't hang around the home airfield. Another is that the
pilot must direct the path of the glider towards areas likely to
generate lift.  The first qualifier is important. Even on a VERY
good day there will be times when no thermals can be found
within a 3 mile radius of home base.  A pilot striking off cross
country will be constantly sampling new air which greatly
improves his chances. It's like shooting a rifle into a thick
forest with overlapping tree trunks - what are the chances of
NOT hitting a tree?  That leaves t