Welcome to the Soaring Economist. My mission is to inspire and teach the art of soaring. I have made a home for my writings, presentations, and materials collected over the past 11 years.
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Latest Blog Posts
Why Thermal in a Slip? | And the Hazards of Skidding
Experienced soaring pilots usually advise thermalling in a slip. Dick Johnson in the July 1997 issue of Soaring magazine provides an excellent technical explanation for how and why to use this technique. The bottom line is that a turn requires a combination of pitch, bank, and yaw to maintain a stable configuration. And it requires …
Continue reading “Why Thermal in a Slip? | And the Hazards of Skidding”
Building Your Toolbox | Responsibly Developing Your Margins
Many accidents in soaring are while flying cross country, particularly during landouts. Most landout related accidents have little to do with unexpected occurrences in a good field. Instead, they have more to do with the situational awareness, judgment, and decision making of choosing an appropriate field at the right time and selecting the right time …
Continue reading “Building Your Toolbox | Responsibly Developing Your Margins”
Bringing It All Together | A Lap Along the Local Ridge
It’s a nice day with moderate wind, perpendicular wind direction, and decent thermals. We had towed over to the ridge, tested out the conditions and dropped down on the trees. We are finally ready to soar along the ridge, having trained all of the key ridge concepts and raring to go! In this video, we …
Continue reading “Bringing It All Together | A Lap Along the Local Ridge”
