Cross-country speed and distance
Cross-country flying is a cycle: climb in a thermal, glide to the next, climb again. SoarScope works out how fast that cycle goes, hour by hour, and from that how far you can fly in a day.
The speed of an hour
Section titled “The speed of an hour”The speed depends on everything a pilot weighs on the day:
- How strong the climbs are.
- How much height you have to work with. With plenty of height you can be choosy; low down you take what you find and keep a field in reach.
- How the air behaves between thermals. Good cumulus helps you find lift and avoid sink; a blue day gives you nothing to go on.
- The wind.
- Your glider and its wing loading. See Choosing a glider.
An hour that is too weak, too low or too slow to go anywhere does not count as a cross-country hour.
The distance of a day
Section titled “The distance of a day”PFD looks at the day as a whole: how fast each hour flies, and how many good hours the day strings together. A single good hour on its own does not make a cross-country day.
A forecast, not a promise
Section titled “A forecast, not a promise”The distance is what a good pilot could fly on the day the forecast describes. Your own day depends on the real weather, your start time, your route and the task.