Choosing a task is the first job for any soaring or cross country flight. Your task might be as modest as staying up for an hour or as ambitious as a 500 km cross-country flight.

Early soaring flights often consist of attempts to qualify for one of the badges of the Fédération Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) such as the Silver C. The Silver C requires a 5-hour duration flight, an altitude gain of 1000 m or more, and a flight to a declared goal 50 km or more from the starting point.

Your instructors can probably suggest routes for badge flights. Otherwise, you will have to work out a course from the starting point to any turnpoints and your goal. You can measure distances roughly on a map. The Soaring Association of Canada's Guide to FAI Badge & Record Procedures gives a "Great Circle" formula for accurately calculating the distance between two points, given their latitude and longitude. Other things to consider when choosing a course are terrain that gives good soaring and which offers plenty of fields for out landings.

When you have chosen a task, you should mark the course line and compass headings on a current aeronautical chart. Study the chart to visualize landmarks, turnpoints, controlled airspace, safe and unsafe landing areas, etc. Rough calculations of average speeds will give you an idea of when to expect to be at different points. The chart may also be marked with heights needed for the final glide back to the airfield. This is the time to learn to use a glide calculator!

For badge flights the pilot also must prepare a barograph, camera, and a flight declaration and have these items verified by an Official Observer before takeoff.

You will require the use of a glider for the day.

If you plan to fly in a Club glider, you must find out and comply with the Club rules for cross-country flights in Club aircraft. Requirements vary from club to club, but usually include a glider pilot license, a Bronze C, and knowledge of derigging and trailering the glider.

You must check that the aircraft is airworthy by completing the daily inspection and a positive control check. A freshly-charged battery, and any necessary seat cushions or ballast should be installed.

You must also ensure that a serviceable trailer and tow vehicle is available to retrieve the glider if you land out. Trailers often suffer neglect, so you should check that tires, running gear and lights are roadworthy. You will need to organize one or two friends into a retrieve crew to drive the tow vehicle and help de-rig if you land out. (Bribing the crew with the promise of dinner usually works.)

As soaring flights often involve several hours in the cockpit, you must consider your physiological needs.

You should be in good health. Not feeling like flying is a sufficient reason for not flying. To avoid excessive exposure to the sun while in the cockpit, a brimmed hat, loose, light-coloured clothing, sunglasses, and sunscreen are advisable. Something to drink is essential on long flights, so take along a plastic drink bottle of water, Gatorade or fruit juice. Avoid, tea, coffee and carbonated drinks. I also take along some granola bars or other easily-digested food.

Unfortunately, drinking enough liquid on long flights raises the question of provision for urination. Some form of relief system is necessary. It matters less what system you engineer, and more that you can use it in flight. I use large-size polythene freezer bags with a disposable diaper inside.

Don't fly away immediately off tow and land in a field within walking distance of the airfield! Settle down after release and assess the day. How strong are the thermals and how high they are going? Are cumulus clouds forming? Where is the lift in relation to the clouds?

The three sources of lift that glider pilots use to sustain flight are:

Thermals: Bubbles or columns of rising air heated near the ground and which are more buoyant than the surrounding air.

Ridge lift: results when the wind blows across ridges and the upward flow on the windward slopes is strong enough to support a glider.

Wave: forms downwind of mountain ridges, like the waves downstream of a rock in a stream. Atmospheric wave is the means by which soaring pilots reach very high altitudes. The absolute world altitude record of 46,267 ft was achieved in wave over the Sierra Nevada.

Soaring and cross-country flights in Eastern Ontario depend on thermals.

Thermals form when the sun heats the ground, warming the near the surface and making it buoyant. The warm air rises into the cooler air aloft. Low down the motion is chaotic but higher up the thermal becomes organised into a bubble or column of rising air.

Thermals ascend until they reach a level at which the surrounding air is relatively warm such that they are no longer buoyant. A layer of warmer air aloft that caps thermals is called a "temperature inversion."

Typical Ontario thermals are about 500 feet to 1000 feet across. Rates of ascent range up to 600 ft/min to altitudes up to 5000 feet above ground level (AGL).

Good weather signs for thermals include strong sunshine and a cool unstable airmass. Such weather often follows a day or so after the passage of a cold front. Warm, stable air associated with hot, hazy and humid days develops little upward convection.

As a thermal rises it expands and cools. If it goes high enough, the water vapour it carries condenses to form a cloud of visible water droplets. This is a cumulus cloud. Cumulus clouds therefore mark the tops of thermals.

In good soaring weather the sky may be dotted with cumulus. However, cumulus vary in appearance and life cycle and not every cloud has lift beneath it. Good signs are well-developed clouds with a crisp domed outline, a brilliant top, and a dark, convex base. Clouds that have other gliders circling beneath them are also good bets!

Clouds that have a ragged, dull top and an indefinite base have begun to evaporate. They signify that the thermal that was feeding them has ended. Large "dead" cu sometimes form that blot out the sunlight, killing further thermals until they dissipate. At the other extreme, small cumulus may form and vanish so quickly that they are of little use to glider pilots searching for their next climb.

The direction you are looking with respect to the sun alters the appearance of clouds. Looking toward the sun, the clouds look greyer and less attractive than those illuminated by the sun behind you.
 
 

When the air is very dry or thermals are weak, clouds don't form. Glider pilots call these "blue" days.

Finding thermals on blue days is by hit-and-miss. If the thermals are going high, maybe to 5000 feet, you are fairly certain of bumping into lift before you get low. But if the thermals don't go above say 3000 feet, soaring is difficult because of the short time the pilot has after reaching the top of each thermal in which to either find new lift or prepare for a landing.

On blue days, thermal sometimes form lines, or "streets" downwind of surface features that are warmer than their surroundings, such as villages amidst moist farmland. Exploiting this fact can improve the chances of staying airborne on blue days.

Thermal spacing is related to the depth of convection. Thermals are more widely spaced on days when the cumulus are high than on days when the clouds are lower. As a rule of thumb, the distance between thermals is three times the height to which thermals ascend.

So when you get high, you may need the height to glide to the next thermal. And even when cloud base is low, soaring flights can be made by hopping from cloud to cloud.

Glider pilots find thermals by identifying and flying through potential areas of lift. The best indicators of lift are cumulus clouds, if these are forming. When low down, however, finding the thermal that is feeding a cloud can be difficult, so ground features are a better reference. Thermals may rise from any ground feature that is likely to be warmer than its surroundings, such as southerly-facing slopes, dark well-drained fields, etc.

The air near thermals feels turbulent and lively, and the glider may encounter sinking air and lose height. Don't despair! Thermals are surrounded by descending air that they have displaced.

Clues for locating the "core" of the thermal include:

-Cloud appearance: Fly a little upwind of the darkest part of the base.

-The behaviour of other gliders: where are they circling?

-Soaring birds such as hawks and seagulls: they are usually in the best lift.

-A tendency of the glider to bank: the lift lies toward the rising wing.

Usually gliders must circle in thermals to gain enough height to glide to the next one. On exceptional days when the thermals are large and strong, the necessary altitude can be gained merely by slowing in the lift and flying straight ahead.

When the glider flies into lift, the pilot feels a "surge" in the seat of the pants followed a few seconds later by the variometer reading. Look out for other aircraft then start a medium turn toward where the thermal seems to be.

Often the glider flies out of the lift after flying part of a circle and the variometer turns to sink again. To maximise the rate of climb, the pilot must adjust the circle so that the flight path lies as much as possible in the lift. "Centering" thermals requires a sense of orientation and feel that takes practice to develop.

The basic method of thermal centering is as follows. After at least one complete circle, the pilot notes the glider's heading when the lift is strongest. I mentally note a landmark over the nose. The position of strongest lift is often confirmed by reduced lift or sink on the opposite side of the circle. The pilot then moves the circle away from the sink and toward the lift by levelling the wings for two or three seconds about a quarter turn before the "best" heading: i.e. as the landmark comes in line with the inner wingtip. This correction will shift the circle about one radius toward the area of lift and should improve the climb rate. The circle is then reevaluated.

Thermalling requires a steady turn at moderate airspeed. Flying too fast increases the radius of turn and puts the glider out of the strongest lift at the centre of the thermal. On the other hand, flying too slowly risks the glider stalling. Varying bank angle allows the circle to wander--except, from the pilot's point of view, it is the thermal that seems to wander.

A pilot on a typical cross-country flight spends about half the time circling in thermals! Faster cross-country speeds and ability to "stay up" reward those who practise thermalling.
 
 

The instrument that displays the glider's rate of ascent or descent is called a "variometer."

Most common variometers (eg Winter, PZL) are unpowered devices that measure the flow through a capillary connecting a sealed flask to the atmosphere. As the glider ascends, the surrounding pressure drops so air flows out of the flask, and vice versa, producing a proportional instrument reading.

Such a basic system has the drawback of responding to pilot inputs. The pilot can make the glider ascend (for a short time at least) by pulling back on the stick. But he or she is no better off after this manoeuvre because the glider has merely swapped speed for height. To give better information about what the lift is doing, many variometer systems are compensated for speed changes. These systems are known as "total energy compensated" because they display changes in the glider's total energy, which is made up of kinetic (speed) plus potential (height) energy.

A total-energy compensated variometer is essential for serious soaring.
 
 

Nothing attracts other gliders more quickly than a glider that is visibly climbing. You must keep a good lookout when thermalling. Avoid staring at the instruments inside the cockpit. An "audio vario"--an electronic device that produces a tone according to the strength of the lift--helps the pilot maintain a lookout outside the cockpit.

On entering a thermal that other gliders are already circling in, circle in the same direction and keep the other gliders in view. Avoid flying where other pilots cannot see you. If you enter at the same height as another glider, do so from outside the other's circle and slowly position yourself at the opposite side of the circle. From this position, both pilots can see each other and there is little relative motion between the gliders.

It is dangerous to circle independently of nearby gliders.

Glider performance is expressed in terms of "glide ratio." Glide ratio is the ratio of airspeed to sink speed. A glide ratio of 30:1 means that the glider travels forward thirty feet for every foot it descends.

Glide ratio varies with the airspeed at which the glider flies. The glider's performance may be summarized by its "polar curve," a graph that shows its sink rate at different airspeeds.

All gliders exhibit a speed at which the sink rate is a minimum, which results in the longest duration for a given loss of height. Another, slightly faster, speed produces the flattest glide. The best glide ratio is shown on the polar curve by the tangent from the origin, and the point where the tangent touches the curve is the best glide speed. All other airspeeds, faster or slower, result in steeper glide angles and more height lost for each mile flown.
 
 

The fastest average speed across-country comes from cruising faster than the best glide speed when the lift is strong. This happens because the time needed to fly a given distance is the sum of the time spent gliding and the time spent thermalling. Up to a point, flying faster between thermals reduces the time spent gliding more than it than increases the time to climb. On the other hand, when the lift is weak it is better to cruise nearer to the speed for best glide ratio.

Many gliders are fitted with a "speed-to-fly ring" or "MacCready Ring." Dr Paul MacCready is a past US Soaring Champion who developed a theory of optimum cross country speeds.

The speed-to-fly ring is mounted on the variometer. Airspeeds are marked round the ring on a scale calibrated for each type of glider. The pilot rotates the ring until the datum is at the average rate of climb expected in the next thermal, then cruises at the airspeed on the ring to which the variometer needle points. Higher ring settings command faster speeds.

In setting out on a final glide, the speed-to-fly ring is usually set at the rate of climb in the last thermal. This necessitates climbing higher in the last thermal than the minimum altitude for best glide ratio. If the glide is going badly, slowing to conserve height is then an option.

One should not attach too much importance to speed-to-fly calculations. They are only guides. Large errors in speed or ring setting are not critical. I generally err on the cautious side and cruise more slowly than indicated because this conserves height and makes reaching the next thermal more certain!
 
 

Glider pilots constantly must assess how much height they need to glide to the next thermal or to reach a goal such as the home airfield.

The average glider will go a surprisingly long way. The Schweizer 1-36 at its best glide ratio of 30:1 will fly in still air some 25 nautical miles for a height loss of 5000 feet. That's the equivalent of flying from Ottawa Airport to Gatineau Gliding Club's airfield at Pendleton. At the outset the airfield would be invisible in the distance

However, a 10-kt headwind would reduce by 25% the distance covered. And flying through sink may cause a larger than expected height loss. For example, one minute of 5-kt sink would result in a 500-foot shortfall. Such a height loss could be critical in the final stages of the glide.

Thus, the pilot must take account of the speed to fly, and the effects of wind and possible sink on glide performance.

Several types of glide calculators are available to help with this arithmetic. The simplest are hand-held rotary slide rules calibrated for each type of glider, such as the JSW calculator designed by the British pilot John Williams, and available by mail order from Knauff & Grove for about $40. To use the JSW calculator, the centre cursor is rotated until the speed to fly is aligned with the wind component curve. The height needed for various glide distances can then be read from the outer circular scale. Electronic glide computers are available to do these calculations plus more advanced functions.

On early soaring flights it would be prudent to maintain a height reserve of about 50% more than the calculated height loss for return to the airfield, plus 1000 feet for a circuit. It is safest when soaring locally to fly upwind of the airfield, since the resulting tail wind will assist the glide home.

Despite the advent of electronic aids such as GPS, it is still necessary to master the art of visual navigation. Some do's and don't's:

Do navigate while gliding between thermals. It is better to concentrate on flying the glider while thermalling.

Do use the compass to check the heading and identify distant landmarks to steer towards. Turn the map so that the course line points forward, making comparisons easier with the ground.

Do use linear features such as rail lines, highways or rivers that cross your course approximately at right angles to establish distance along track. Towns, villages, and lakes also serve as reference points: e.g. "Now about 5 miles north-east of Smiths Falls."
 
 

Don't overnavigate. Avoid becoming preoccupied with every village or creek, or trying to navigate by features that are visible on the map but can't be easily seen from the air, e.g. power lines. Knowing your position within a few miles between fixes is generally adequate. However, you must establish your position with respect to controlled airspace.

Another time when it is critical to know exactly where you are is on a low-altitude final glide back to base. Once when returning from a contest flight at an unfamiliar site, I spent several anxious minutes scanning the horizon, unable to see the airfield, which turned out to be underneath the glider! It's a good idea to note some landmarks that enable you to find the airfield.

If you get lost (and everybody gets lost sometime) the solution comes from staying cool and working backwards from the last known position, then comparing the ground with the relevant area of the map to identify major features: "I was at X half and hour ago and I've been flying in an easterly direction and I've been averaging about 30 kts on this flight, so I must be about 15 miles east of X."

You may encounter unfamiliar traffic or other hazards while flying cross-country and you should exercise good airmanship. Don't assume you are alone in the sky: keep a good lookout.

The pilot should be aware of positive controlled airspace at airports like Ottawa and alert areas such as parachute clubs near the course. When in controlled airspace you must establish radio contact with the control unit. Avoid loitering in areas where traffic can be expected such as along the extended centerline of active runways. Airliners on "straight-in" approaches pass through 4000 to 5000 feet while still 15 to 20 miles downwind of the runway.

At smaller uncontrolled aerodromes be aware of and use any radio frequencies on which local traffic broadcasts its intentions. Radio frequencies and other aerodrome information can be found in the VFR Supplement published by Transport Canada

FAI tasks and contests require evidence of rounding turnpoints either by photographing them or by GPS data recordings.

Current FAI rules for turnpoint photography require cameras to be mounted in the cockpit frame, with a verification mark applied to the canopy in front of the lens by the Official Observer. With the camera is fixed to the cockpit frame so that the wingtip appears in the field of view, taking the photograph is simply a matter of banking the glider until the turnpoint lies off the wingtip then pressing the shutter.

FAI rules stipulate that turnpoint photographs must be taken from a 90-degree sector centred on the bisector of the inbound and outbound courses. It is easy to take the photo outside the proper sector. It pays to study the details around each turnpoint to identify where the photograph should be taken and what reference points will serve as guides in the air, and to practise turnpoint photography beforehand.

No cross country flight should be undertaken without considering the possibility that an off-field landing may result.

The rule that ensures safety in cross country flights is that the pilot must keep options for a safe landing within reach always. The pilot's options diminish as the glider gets lower. What is safe depends on the pilot's expertise, the terrain beneath, glider performance and the local soaring conditions.

Off-field landings are rarely sudden surprises. Changes in soaring conditions such as a developing overcast, or approaching sunset, gradually make it more difficult to stay up, and should alert the pilot to the possibility of an outlanding.

The farmlands in the Ottawa-St Lawrence valley offer many opportunities for safe off-field landings. Even so, the availability of fields changes with the season and crop cycles, and pilots should be aware of the colour, height, and texture of vegetation, fencing and drainage patterns and anything else that affects "landability". Flights over the rugged terrain north of the Ottawa River or west of Smiths Falls require extra caution to ensure that landable terrain is within reach. Therefore the decision heights given below are only guides and are secondary to the rule stated above.

When the glider descends to about 2000 feet AGL, the possibility of an outlanding should be considered. At this height the pilot should continue to search for lift but should remain within reach of flat, cultivated areas. From 2000 feet AGL the glider will travel several miles, more if downwind, with enough height remaining for a circuit.

The pilot should examine the surrounding terrain:

What is the terrain elevation. At what indicated altitude should the circuit begin?

Does the ground slope? The ground usually slopes toward streams, rivers or ponds. If a slope is visible, the fields will normally be unsuitable or at least very difficult to land in. Always land up-slope even if that means landing downwind.

What is the wind direction? Look for smoke from fires or chimneys, wind patterns on water, the movement of cloud shadows, or the glider's drift. If you have a radio, listen to the Automatic Traffic Information Service (ATIS) broadcast from nearby airports (121.15 MHz at Ottawa).

Are there hills or trees to create turbulence?
 
 

If the glider continues to descend, by about 1500 feet the pilot should pick two or three suitable looking fields. I use the mnemonic

Slope : Any visible slope is unacceptable. If necessary land upslope.

Surface: My priorities are, depending on the time of year:

1. Hay or wheat stubble (yellow with cut pattern). If the field has been recently cut the surface should be hard and smooth. Look out for bales or rows of drying hay.

2. Harrowed soil (brown). Soft, loose surface giving a short, dusty stop. Distinguish from ploughed field with high, rough furrows.

3. Young crop (brown from above and greenish at a low angle). Until about mid-June, it is possible to land between the rows of crops such as corn without damage.

4. Last choice are green fields, unless you know the surface (eg by prior inspection). The reasons for this are first, many uncultivated fields in Eastern Ontario are filled with rough tussocky grass that conceals obstacles such as rocks, fences, ditches and farm implements. Second, cultivated green fields in summer contain a crop, e.g., beans, potatoes or corn, and the farmer will not welcome your arrival.

Stock Avoid fields with animals. Hitting a cow would damage you and the cow.

Length Compare the field with the length of runway you land on at home. A rough guide is the spacing of hydro poles. Five pole spacings (about 300yds) would be a bare minimum.

Obstacles Look out for hydro wires bordering or crossing fields. Trees bordering the field can obscure wires or poles. Avoid flying low between them on approach. Obstructions beneath the approach reduce the usable length of the field by ten times their height: e.g., an 80-foot tree removes 800 feet of useable length from the field.

Many fields in low lying areas are worked into shallow crests and ditches along their length. Land along the crests.

Wind Assess the surface wind direction. Look for smoke from fires or chimneys, wind patterns on water, movement of cloud shadows, and the glider's drift. Plan to land into wind unless the field slopes; if so, land up-slope. Beware of turbulence in the lee of obstacles.

By 1200 to 1000 AGL feet the pilot should select the most suitable field and position the glider well upwind for a circuit.

By 800 feet AGL the pilot should abandon all attempts at thermalling and decide to land in the chosen field.

Plan the circuit to be opposite the landing point around 500 feet AGL. Select a safe approach speed and plan the approach to clear obstacles using about half airbrake. Touch down at minimum speed and apply the wheel brake to stop as quickly as possible.

If the field appears unsuitable at the last minute, e.g., the vegetation turns out to be different from expected, it is probably best to continue with a controlled approach into the field rather than risk changes of plan.

In the pleasant silence that follows a well-executed off-field landing the pilot can reflect on the flight, often with a tinge of regret if the sky above is still active.

Your first concern should be to notify the landowner that you had to make an unplanned landing on his or her property. Ask to telephone your retrieve crew who will pick up the glider. Give the crew road directions and the telephone number at your location. You will also need to ask the farmer's permission to move the trailer onto the field or the road beside it. If you landed in a crop, ask the farmer to assess the damage and try to minimize further damage by trampling while retrieving the glider. While you're waiting for your crew to arrive, ask the farmer to sign your landing declaration, even if the flight won't count for an FAI badge, and take a photo of him beside the glider to send later.

Pilots who have finished their initial training and reached solo proficiency standard should set goals for themselves. There's no harm in flying aimlessly around the Club, but if you are to develop your skills you must practice.

Have a purpose for every flight, be it as modest as staying up for an hour or as ambitious as flying a 500-kilometre Diamond Badge leg.

Practice

"Mini cross-country" flights in good soaring weather to points within 5 or 10 miles of the airfield can help you develop soaring skills. Practice the following:

Thermalling: Don't stay at the top of one thermal all day. Practice finding and climbing in different thermals from a variety of altitudes, always trying to get the best climb rate. Time spent "scratching" on days when thermals are weak will develop the skills needed to dig out of a flat spot on later cross-country flights. Many contests are won and lost on poor soaring days!

Navigation: Practice map reading and using a compass in flight. Learn to use a glide calculator to set up final glides back to the airfield. Start cautiously and trim the safety margin as you gain experience.

Field Selection: Practice selecting fields from the air and planning circuits and approaches into them. Inspect the fields later from the ground and discuss with your instructor.

Soaring Activities

Badge flights, cross country clinics, club and provincial contests, and soaring ladders are ways for the budding cross-country pilot to sharpen his or her skills and meet like-minded people..

W.G. Scull. Soaring Across Country. Pelham Books, London, 1979. Good book for Bronze-C level pilots looking to begin cross-country soaring.

Helmut Reichmann Cross-Country Soaring. Soaring Society of America, 1988. Advanced soaring technique. Not for beginners.

Welch, Anne & Lorne and Frank Irving. New Soaring Pilot. John Murray, 1968. Rather dated but the advice on pilot technique is still sound.

Delafield, J. Gliding Competitively A.C. Black, London, 1983. Emphasis on competitive soaring, but good chapters on developing basic cross-country soaring skills.

Soar and Learn to Fly Gliders. Soaring Association of Canada 1994. The SAC soaring instruction manual.

C.E. Wallington Meteorology for Glider Pilots. John Murray 1986. Comprehensive treatment of soaring weather.

Federation Aeronautique Internationale Sporting Code: Section D, Gliders.

Soaring Association of Canada Guide to FAI Badge and Record Procedures (6th Ed.)

Free Flight. - the journal of the Soaring Association of Canada.

Soaring - the journal of the Soaring Society of America. Useful for numerous classified ads for used gliders and soaring supplies.

Sailplane and Gliding. The British scene.

SAC (Soaring Association of Canada) advertises merchandise in Free Flight.

Charts, pilots supplies: VIP Pilot Centre Inc., St Hubert, PQ. Mail order 1-800-361-1696.

Knauff & Grove Soaring Supplies, Keystone Gliderport, Julian Pennsylvania. 814-355-2483. Soaring goodies by web and mail order.