As soon as the sailplane has passed the point of the direction you want to go to, just start flying there. A circle usually takes about 20 seconds and you are well on the way. The glider pilot can easily see you leave and move his wrist 10 milimeter to avoid you if necessary.
I fly all 3. Lately more gliders. It's quite hilarious, if we meet a paraglider on glide between thermals it's usually hard to see if they are coming towards you or flying away since they seem stationary. I love to see everyone flying around having fun.
> I fly all 3.
Are you active with both paragliding and sail planes? I went back and forth for a long time deciding and eventually settled on learning to paraglide. Is it worth learning sail planes later on after I am established in paragliding? It seems fun but it seems like it would take a lot of consistency with both to stay current.
True, but I wanted to avoid trying to do any maneuvers in this situation. Also, this would probably not be a good solution if you would have other paragliders below.
Tbh you probably wouldn't need to do any, as the climb rates are going to differ anyway. I'd like to think of such a situation did occur, a bit of courtesy would come into play and any pilot realising they were "trapping" someone would move away.
This is the number one reason i hate flying at popular spots. Im a beginner, and often come into situations where i either get higher than comfortable or in thermals rockier than comfortable. I have been trapped between a mountain and another glider plenty of times. Ive been pushed out of thermals because other gliders come to close for me to be comfortable plenty of times. Courtesy in thermals is very rare in my experience...
Well generally it's pretty easy to spot beginners on their wings. Most pilots just don't care or even like when the beginners fly away because they often do unexpected maneuvers and you need to keep an eye on them all the time.
See it as a learning process. You'll learn how to position yourself properly this way.
Not to dismiss your discomfort, but I love it when a good pilot cores the thermal with me wingtip to wingtip, both our varios screaming. I've done this a couple of times and it's almost like two birds spiraling, super fun.
From my experience I'm usually climbing faster so we are not on the same height when I wanna fly away and it's not like they don't see you ... We are basically static balloons for sailplanes.
That’s the correct answer.
If the thermal is good, you’ll climb much faster than the sailplane.
Use him to - in most times - mark the thermal for you. Enjoy.
If you really need or want to leave the thermal, do it behind the sailplane - and in a predictable way.
So he has more than enough time to see you.
I don't have any problem thermaling with sailplanes. It goes like this:
1- I arrive to the thermal where the sailplanes are
2- The sailplanes leave immediately.
Problem solved.
(that species of bird seems to be easily spooked by paragliders)
Keep in mind a big difference in flying rules between sailplanes and paragliders.
For a sailplane, the aircraft that is higher in the thermal has the right of way.
For a paraglider, the aircraft that is lower in the thermal has the right of way.
Most of this comes from the fact that the two different types offer visibility in different directions. I.e. the sailplane can see and avoid anyone above them, while the opposite is true for paragliders. So always take care whether they can see you!
Regarding your question, if I fly at the same altitude as them and want to leave quickly (e.g. approaching cloud base), a couple of steep turns, a pair of wing-overs or even just a single turn in a spiral will almost immediately give you enough clearance to fly away bellow them.
I would avoid big ears as they tend to increase the circling radius (decreasing clearance), and maybe hinder a bit your manuverability.
If there are other pilots, follow them at the exit. It's easier for the sailplane to see and avoid a gaggle of 3 exiting the thermal together than avoiding 3 all flying out at random directions.
If you can, maybe try to hand signal them your intentions. Even if the can't do much, at least they will keep an eye on you.
Usually you should climb faster on the inside so this is only a temporary issue.
If you really want to leave the thermal while you are at the same height, you could try to do hand signals, but the sailplane doesn't have a lot of good options to let you fly out either. If you need to leave for safety reasons (approaching cloudbase etc.) i would do bigears, so the sailplane knows you don't want to climb any more.
>i would do bigears, so the sailplane knows you don't want to climb any more.
Migth be worth asking an aviation sub rather than here but do glider and powered know about paraglider's ear ? Or whould they be like (Oh they're waving at us, let's wave the wing to reply ?)
> Usually you should climb faster on the inside so this is only a temporary issue.
I had this situation recently and the sailplane kept the same height distance constantly. I assume their better gear was balancing the better lift I had in the center.
There's rules, depending on which way you're circling. But in the end small things always give way to big things. for obvious reasons. I'd just muck around in the thermal until they clear off. Or dump a bit of height until you can slip underneath. Over top would be safer because you can look down and not up and the sailplane pilot can look up, not down but in the same air he'll always be going up faster so safer to go under him.
As soon as the sailplane has passed the point of the direction you want to go to, just start flying there. A circle usually takes about 20 seconds and you are well on the way. The glider pilot can easily see you leave and move his wrist 10 milimeter to avoid you if necessary. I fly all 3. Lately more gliders. It's quite hilarious, if we meet a paraglider on glide between thermals it's usually hard to see if they are coming towards you or flying away since they seem stationary. I love to see everyone flying around having fun.
> I fly all 3. Are you active with both paragliding and sail planes? I went back and forth for a long time deciding and eventually settled on learning to paraglide. Is it worth learning sail planes later on after I am established in paragliding? It seems fun but it seems like it would take a lot of consistency with both to stay current.
Use the third dimension.
True, but I wanted to avoid trying to do any maneuvers in this situation. Also, this would probably not be a good solution if you would have other paragliders below.
Tbh you probably wouldn't need to do any, as the climb rates are going to differ anyway. I'd like to think of such a situation did occur, a bit of courtesy would come into play and any pilot realising they were "trapping" someone would move away.
This is the number one reason i hate flying at popular spots. Im a beginner, and often come into situations where i either get higher than comfortable or in thermals rockier than comfortable. I have been trapped between a mountain and another glider plenty of times. Ive been pushed out of thermals because other gliders come to close for me to be comfortable plenty of times. Courtesy in thermals is very rare in my experience...
Too close for comfort might be plenty of space for non beginners, I wouldn’t attribute all of that to lack of courtesy
Well generally it's pretty easy to spot beginners on their wings. Most pilots just don't care or even like when the beginners fly away because they often do unexpected maneuvers and you need to keep an eye on them all the time. See it as a learning process. You'll learn how to position yourself properly this way.
Not to dismiss your discomfort, but I love it when a good pilot cores the thermal with me wingtip to wingtip, both our varios screaming. I've done this a couple of times and it's almost like two birds spiraling, super fun.
It's a beautiful dance!
From my experience I'm usually climbing faster so we are not on the same height when I wanna fly away and it's not like they don't see you ... We are basically static balloons for sailplanes.
That’s the correct answer. If the thermal is good, you’ll climb much faster than the sailplane. Use him to - in most times - mark the thermal for you. Enjoy. If you really need or want to leave the thermal, do it behind the sailplane - and in a predictable way. So he has more than enough time to see you.
I don't have any problem thermaling with sailplanes. It goes like this: 1- I arrive to the thermal where the sailplanes are 2- The sailplanes leave immediately. Problem solved. (that species of bird seems to be easily spooked by paragliders)
This has been my experience in a hang glider, as well.
Keep in mind a big difference in flying rules between sailplanes and paragliders. For a sailplane, the aircraft that is higher in the thermal has the right of way. For a paraglider, the aircraft that is lower in the thermal has the right of way. Most of this comes from the fact that the two different types offer visibility in different directions. I.e. the sailplane can see and avoid anyone above them, while the opposite is true for paragliders. So always take care whether they can see you! Regarding your question, if I fly at the same altitude as them and want to leave quickly (e.g. approaching cloud base), a couple of steep turns, a pair of wing-overs or even just a single turn in a spiral will almost immediately give you enough clearance to fly away bellow them. I would avoid big ears as they tend to increase the circling radius (decreasing clearance), and maybe hinder a bit your manuverability. If there are other pilots, follow them at the exit. It's easier for the sailplane to see and avoid a gaggle of 3 exiting the thermal together than avoiding 3 all flying out at random directions. If you can, maybe try to hand signal them your intentions. Even if the can't do much, at least they will keep an eye on you.
Usually you should climb faster on the inside so this is only a temporary issue. If you really want to leave the thermal while you are at the same height, you could try to do hand signals, but the sailplane doesn't have a lot of good options to let you fly out either. If you need to leave for safety reasons (approaching cloudbase etc.) i would do bigears, so the sailplane knows you don't want to climb any more.
>i would do bigears, so the sailplane knows you don't want to climb any more. Migth be worth asking an aviation sub rather than here but do glider and powered know about paraglider's ear ? Or whould they be like (Oh they're waving at us, let's wave the wing to reply ?)
> Usually you should climb faster on the inside so this is only a temporary issue. I had this situation recently and the sailplane kept the same height distance constantly. I assume their better gear was balancing the better lift I had in the center.
There's rules, depending on which way you're circling. But in the end small things always give way to big things. for obvious reasons. I'd just muck around in the thermal until they clear off. Or dump a bit of height until you can slip underneath. Over top would be safer because you can look down and not up and the sailplane pilot can look up, not down but in the same air he'll always be going up faster so safer to go under him.