The heat on sunny days creates bubbles or columns of rising air (thermals) that frequently become cumulus clouds at height. Many of our members enjoy flying around the country by circling in the rising air and then gliding to the next thermal. The picture shows the tracks of all the flights from our airfield at Gransden Lodge on the one day.
Sixteen gliders flew significant distances around the country to points including: York Minster and North Allerton in Yorkshire, Chesterfield, Ladybower Reservoir in the Peak District, Soham and Six-Mile-Bottom in East Cambridgeshire, Towcester and Newark-on-Trent. The thermals enabled climbs to about 6,500’. The greatest distance flown by a single glider that day was 514km, one of three flights of over 500km; there were another three between 400 and 499km. The fastest round trip was 101kph over a distance of 416km. One flight took just over six hours to complete. The longest glide, without circling in a thermal, was at least 104km.
Could you do the same? There’s only one way to find out!
