[CAL]

it was an Epic day at the POM SS, upon my arrival at the site, i knew it was going to be epic as i assembled my glider once assembled i realized that my vario was at home still on the charger, disappointed i donned my harness and launched trying to learn what others have told me about flying without

i soon realized that i responded to thermals before the vario responded, i would react to the thermal and then hear the vario, but having flown so much with a vario i could still hear the vario beeping in my mind and could hear the frequency change when the lift was greater even though i didn't have it with me, i chuckled to myself

so i can respond to a thermal well, now how am i going to stay in a thermal when i can no longer tell, this is when i needed something to gauge my altitude, i did fine when i could gauge it with other gliders, it was very obvious when they where getting lower or higher, but when they would land i was on my own, i remember Carm (Skyhighwoman) saying that she would look through her side wires and line it up with some point of reference, so i tried putting the corner of my control frame on a reference point and when completing a 360 i would line it up and it was very obvious that this point was higher or lower, the only problem was i had to do a full 360 to find out, and if i gained i win if not i would have lost a lot of altitude

it was fun trying to figure it all out but i am sure going to love flying with my vario again i will never be left to silence anyway because even without i hear it in my mind it's crazy

[remmoore]

Yep, I had he same experience last fall. Our varios have trained us well - the Pavlovian Response in full effect.

RM

[ng]

how high do you think you went?

[Willmrx]

I turn off my audio on my vario all most every flight, just to keep in tune with my wing.

[Skyhighwoman]

I left out the part where it helps to sing to yourself. You can make up whatever song comes to your head. video uploading now.

Singing can help especially if you do not have your vario.

Sounds like a fun flight.


Link

[jyoder111]

Last flight I did some sans-vario thermaling away from the ridge, on the flatland over the LZ. Without a close ridge for reference, I couldn't immediately tell, with visual cues, if I was in a thermal or just a wind gust.

However, I started to notice the glider responding to the thermals-- it felt like something was lifting up on the keel, pitching me forward ever so slightly. When circling, I could tell if I was drifting out because that sensation would lessen and so I would turn in tighter to regain it and stay in the core. It was pretty cool!

Is this sensation common in thermaling? How about on higher performance gliders than my Falcon?

[dayhead]

Fun reading this. You say when you hit lift you could "hear" your vario.

Well, I had just finished reading "The Tell Tale Heart" by Poe. Neat coincidence.

I used to fly with a vario, I guess it's been 20 years ago now. Nowadays I'd rather take a sledder than have any instruments on my glider.

But then I only live a few miles from Crestline launch, so the occasional short flight doesn't bother me.

[CAL]

[CAL]

[bloke264]

"I'd rather take a sledder than fly with instruments on my glider" must rank along with "I Don't fly with a chute or a helmet as it increases the feeling of danger" or "I put tacks inside my shoes so it REALLY hurts if I don't do a no-stepper".

Weird - just weird.

[I had no chute for the 1st 5 years but that was the 70's]

[TomGalvin]

Do you use instruments on a surfboard?

[jjcote]

There's a big difference between the downside of not having a helmet or chute when you need one, and the downside of sinking out for a sledder. The latter is still a perfectly good hang gliding flight.

[Jason]

people these days.......too dependent on electronics

if you get a manual transmission car.....odds are it tells you when to shift...
if you dont put on your seatbelt......incessant beeping
a hangglider will fly without a vario
a bicycle will ride without a GPS odometer
I can run without a GPS

saturday as I was getting into the sailplane there was someone asking me which GPS I was using and if the mount would work that was in there....my response "i don't have a gps"

[FormerFF]