Thanks, Tim. I think that i was the first to launch and got lucky, then lost my focus when I was suddenly sharing a small thermal with 6 other gliders. Great to see you managed to make it work I flew below you just as you started to climb but never managed to connect with whatever it was you were in. Thanks for the video, it is good food for thought for me.
@@TimPentreath From memory that was more or less it the only chance anyone got all day I think. I never know what to do at Milk, my strategy when I go there on a light day is to give myself 10 top to bottoms and usually, one of them works, if I don't get anything, then at least I have had some exercise and some very valuable low save training.
As a matter of interest, do you have a strategy for low hills on a light wind day, or is it a case of having had enough standing around on the hill or waiting for something like a bird or another climbing glider. Do you ever try to predict the thermic cycle times, I have never had much luck doing this. I am working on the strategy that if I throw myself off enough times, I will get more of a feel for when is right.
Thanks for long version as well 👍 The smoke at 9:15 seems to indicate wind speed decreasing with height. So Im wondering if the strong thermal you felt low down stayed a bit more in place, whereas you drifted too much. Of course we will never know! But in addition to that theory, the tracklog of Wesley also suggests this. It shows him push into wind a touch more than the others at one point lowish down, then remains on the more upwind edge compared to them, and in the end he climbs higher by the looks of it.
Good observation, and possibly correct. However I’m not sure whether the wind did actually decrease with height - it could be that the smoke you refer to has been pulled/drifted into a thermal and thus is rising faster so is at a steeper angle…
@TimPentreath Good point. That still means the thermal (if strong enough) will stand more upright, surely? Unless something can happen to the lapse rate meaning it soon slows after leaving the ground 🤷♂️ then yes drifting is the right thing to do. Im not entirely sure how this works in the real world. You certainly have much more experience than I, but I find it fun to ponder these things to try and improve our understanding! The battle to know when to drift or search upwind! You felt a strong core which would push more straight upwards - less affected by the wind. Possibly!?
"I realise it's not for everyone, so I won't be offended if you get bored and switch off after a minute" You'd be amazed how many pilots watch trough my whole videos that are over 1 hour long because it really helps them figuring out a location or learn something new. And those bad weather days just call for a video like this. Where yo ucan sit down and experience a flight virtually.
@@TimPentreath A battery bank in the pocket solves the run time. My PC hates me when I come home with a full SD card of data though. That's the expensive part. Since I'm a video editor by profession its a bit easier for me to figure out the right workflow, but it certainly requires more from you than you'd expect. I've been watching your videos for years now and I'm honoured that you gave my video a chance. Looking forward to learning more.
@ yeah I do have a battery in my pocket and connect it when the camera runs out of juice - GoPros have a tendency to hang/freeze if permanently connected to a battery in my experience…
Very interesting : the main informations are here : the view on the ground and on other wings, the view on the hands and position on the breaks, the noise of the vario, the whole thing gives a very precise impression, and one can imagine the pros and cons of every choice. I noticed your decision to turn complete 360° very early, for me it is part of your success, il means precision in the air, and selfcontrol . Bravo.
Very interesting Tim. The difference can be simply the right or left-hand turn. At least you had a beautiful day to look at. It is what all of who don't live in England imagine what it must look like all the time. My guess is that all that green requires a fair amount of rain..., which helps to produce this kind of content! Always a bright side somewhere!
I also watch the second video concerning the whole flight... Providing the title, I was VERY careful about the decision making. I was unable to find any suggestion to avoid definitive sink. Would you have joined the gaggle in front of you, maybe... maybe, you could have stuck to them and follow their path. Anyway, I was thrilled. You announce your altitude right when needed. And I also complain with "Comeons" sometimes, leading to the same type of success. Great video.
@@vincentdetis7223 Thanks again for your comments Vincent. Yeah, there might have been one or two things I could have tried when lower down, but fundamentally I think I was just unlucky. One suggestion though, of heading off at 45° might have worked if I was stuck in a “sink street”. I tried to catch up with the other three but couldn’t, hence why I was on my own. It was interesting that a friend who flew a similar route, also landed a few kms behind me at about the same time…
Wow, when you were scratching up back to launch height, the others and you started circleling quite early. Wouldn't have been my climb out. I am quite conservative and typically only circle when above the such a small ridge, especially when other pilots are also scratching. Respect that none of you seemd to be influenced by this "stressful" situation. Häppiehh Lähndings
@@davidalhoff7190 thanks David! The thing is it’s quite a shallow slope so doing a 360 when in gentle lift is ok if it’s not too windy, which it wasn’t on this day.
Those in the moment decisions. How to have a high success rate? And or how to avoid mistakes. Must be a book's worth of knowledge there, that is never complete, and maybe those that fly well are always reviewing past experience. What was good, what could have been better, and how? Great sport. Thanks for the post. Vicarious training, maybe.
I guess Wez and Ben saw me take off and go left and not get anything, so maybe they turned right, or maybe they spotted something that I didn't, but yep, those decisions occur quite often, particularly when low!
Whats going on with the speed system here. It looks like there are too many lines or something. Cant really tell. And are those cut away carabiners? Way to stick with it the climb.
Hey Robert, after a couple of high wind 'landings' in the Alps in 2022 and 2023 I decided I'd try some quick-out carabiners - these are the ones I've got - sickandwrong.co.uk/product/paralock-carabiner - but as to whether I'd ever be able to use them in anger, well I don't know! The extra green line is part of the quick release mechanism to disengage the speed system...
This is EXACTLY what I look for in a flying video.
@@cloudsculptor1 ooh that’s cool, I’ll try and do some more like this 👍🏻
Useful footage of proper thermaling! Very precise work. Thanks for sharing!
@@kurkotava801 thanks again for your kind words, I’m glad you enjoyed it!!
Always informative and well presented👍
Thanks Russell!
love the videos and the journeys Tim I can honestly say you have inspired me to have lessons in the spring
@@mikes8210 Wow, that’s very cool to hear. Where are you learning?
@ mark leavesley Shropshire not far from home
@@mikes8210 Perfect, he's a good guy!
Thanks, Tim. I think that i was the first to launch and got lucky, then lost my focus when I was suddenly sharing a small thermal with 6 other gliders. Great to see you managed to make it work I flew below you just as you started to climb but never managed to connect with whatever it was you were in. Thanks for the video, it is good food for thought for me.
@@williamclive9972 interesting Will, did you eventually get away or was that more or less it?
@@TimPentreath From memory that was more or less it the only chance anyone got all day I think. I never know what to do at Milk, my strategy when I go there on a light day is to give myself 10 top to bottoms and usually, one of them works, if I don't get anything, then at least I have had some exercise and some very valuable low save training.
As a matter of interest, do you have a strategy for low hills on a light wind day, or is it a case of having had enough standing around on the hill or waiting for something like a bird or another climbing glider. Do you ever try to predict the thermic cycle times, I have never had much luck doing this. I am working on the strategy that if I throw myself off enough times, I will get more of a feel for when is right.
@ No, I’m like you, prepared to lob off and keep on trying! Preferably though I’ll wait and keep my eyes on other people/birds!
@@williamclive9972 I climbed out two hours later, after a long period of failed attempts.
Very helpful...look forward to the next one.
Thanks Glenn, glad you found it useful 👍🏻
Very Useful Tim thank you always learning
Cheers Tony!
Thanks for long version as well 👍 The smoke at 9:15 seems to indicate wind speed decreasing with height. So Im wondering if the strong thermal you felt low down stayed a bit more in place, whereas you drifted too much. Of course we will never know! But in addition to that theory, the tracklog of Wesley also suggests this. It shows him push into wind a touch more than the others at one point lowish down, then remains on the more upwind edge compared to them, and in the end he climbs higher by the looks of it.
Good observation, and possibly correct. However I’m not sure whether the wind did actually decrease with height - it could be that the smoke you refer to has been pulled/drifted into a thermal and thus is rising faster so is at a steeper angle…
@TimPentreath Good point. That still means the thermal (if strong enough) will stand more upright, surely? Unless something can happen to the lapse rate meaning it soon slows after leaving the ground 🤷♂️ then yes drifting is the right thing to do. Im not entirely sure how this works in the real world. You certainly have much more experience than I, but I find it fun to ponder these things to try and improve our understanding! The battle to know when to drift or search upwind! You felt a strong core which would push more straight upwards - less affected by the wind. Possibly!?
"I realise it's not for everyone, so I won't be offended if you get bored and switch off after a minute"
You'd be amazed how many pilots watch trough my whole videos that are over 1 hour long because it really helps them figuring out a location or learn something new.
And those bad weather days just call for a video like this. Where yo ucan sit down and experience a flight virtually.
Yep, I've been asked for full length vids before, but the issue is battery life (and prob SD card size!) I'll check out some of yours...!
@@TimPentreath A battery bank in the pocket solves the run time. My PC hates me when I come home with a full SD card of data though. That's the expensive part.
Since I'm a video editor by profession its a bit easier for me to figure out the right workflow, but it certainly requires more from you than you'd expect.
I've been watching your videos for years now and I'm honoured that you gave my video a chance. Looking forward to learning more.
@ yeah I do have a battery in my pocket and connect it when the camera runs out of juice - GoPros have a tendency to hang/freeze if permanently connected to a battery in my experience…
@@TimPentreath Do content that fits your style. We love it anyway.
Very interesting : the main informations are here : the view on the ground and on other wings, the view on the hands and position on the breaks, the noise of the vario, the whole thing gives a very precise impression, and one can imagine the pros and cons of every choice. I noticed your decision to turn complete 360° very early, for me it is part of your success, il means precision in the air, and selfcontrol . Bravo.
Thanks Vincent, I'm glad you found in interesting!
Very interesting Tim. The difference can be simply the right or left-hand turn. At least you had a beautiful day to look at. It is what all of who don't live in England imagine what it must look like all the time. My guess is that all that green requires a fair amount of rain..., which helps to produce this kind of content! Always a bright side somewhere!
haha, they don't call it Mud Island for nothing! but when it's good it really is fantastic!
I also watch the second video concerning the whole flight... Providing the title, I was VERY careful about the decision making. I was unable to find any suggestion to avoid definitive sink. Would you have joined the gaggle in front of you, maybe... maybe, you could have stuck to them and follow their path. Anyway, I was thrilled. You announce your altitude right when needed. And I also complain with "Comeons" sometimes, leading to the same type of success. Great video.
@@vincentdetis7223 Thanks again for your comments Vincent. Yeah, there might have been one or two things I could have tried when lower down, but fundamentally I think I was just unlucky. One suggestion though, of heading off at 45° might have worked if I was stuck in a “sink street”. I tried to catch up with the other three but couldn’t, hence why I was on my own. It was interesting that a friend who flew a similar route, also landed a few kms behind me at about the same time…
Wow, when you were scratching up back to launch height, the others and you started circleling quite early. Wouldn't have been my climb out. I am quite conservative and typically only circle when above the such a small ridge, especially when other pilots are also scratching. Respect that none of you seemd to be influenced by this "stressful" situation.
Häppiehh Lähndings
@@davidalhoff7190 thanks David! The thing is it’s quite a shallow slope so doing a 360 when in gentle lift is ok if it’s not too windy, which it wasn’t on this day.
Nice one Tim.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it 👍🏻
Those in the moment decisions. How to have a high success rate? And or how to avoid mistakes. Must be a book's worth of knowledge there, that is never complete, and maybe those that fly well are always reviewing past experience. What was good, what could have been better, and how?
Great sport.
Thanks for the post. Vicarious training, maybe.
I guess Wez and Ben saw me take off and go left and not get anything, so maybe they turned right, or maybe they spotted something that I didn't, but yep, those decisions occur quite often, particularly when low!
Whats going on with the speed system here. It looks like there are too many lines or something. Cant really tell. And are those cut away carabiners? Way to stick with it the climb.
Hey Robert, after a couple of high wind 'landings' in the Alps in 2022 and 2023 I decided I'd try some quick-out carabiners - these are the ones I've got - sickandwrong.co.uk/product/paralock-carabiner - but as to whether I'd ever be able to use them in anger, well I don't know! The extra green line is part of the quick release mechanism to disengage the speed system...