SAFA Skysailor Magazine

32 SKY SAILOR January | February 2022 Understanding how the air functions can be the difference between a hard day’s flying and a great day’s flying. Thermals in our hemisphere turn anti- clockwise, due to the Coriolis force, so it makes sense to fly clockwise in the climb. This capi- talises by flying slower and climbing faster. Out on the flatlands, thermals can be kilo- metres across! They turn slow with various climb rates contained in the column. Willy willies are created at the shear of a large, slow thermal. They are a consequence of the friction at the thermals extremity, the ‘skin’ of the thermal if you will. You’ll notice that willy willies rarely appear alone. On observation they will appear equi-distant around the actual thermal and ‘follow’ the thermal in what appears to be random directions. A large thermal can also consist of smaller, internal thermals accounting for the variations in climb rates within the same thermal; they still turn anticlockwise. It is important that a pilot can identify, at height, if the encountered lift is generated by a thermal or a willy willy. On one occasion at an early Flatlands, a pilot getting low over the launch paddock decided to try a willy willy that went off under him. He was at about 200ft when he saw the dust kick off, so took the ‘opportunity' to not have to land. The ‘devil’ sucked him in, chewed him up a little, then spat him out at about 100ft and threw him to the ground. He shook himself off, fortunately unhurt, extricating himself from the battered glider and was back in the air an hour later in a borrowed kite. Where eagles dare by John Clark Flying at Mt Timpanogoes with an immature eagle All photos: Lance Merrill, Provo, UT, USA