This a question that I’m sure most of us have found ourselves asking when watching a fellow pilot attempting to locate a solid climb. Over the weekend, Jim - a local paraglider, and I found ourselves in this situation while we watched another punter scratch on a spine below launch. While the wing was not experiencing any obvious lift in either direction and proximity to terrain was not issue, we both though that the lift was in certain direction relative to the position of the glider. This may be dismissed as us doing too much thinking and not enough flying but I have a feeling it may fit quite nicely with something I am working on with my own technique.

When low, with a thermal in the vicinity, I am becoming increasingly aware of the variations in lateral winds aloft. In effect I am finding that I am being pulled into the strongest lift. Quite often this does not mean making variations to your track based on the vario beeping, rather I let the glider go in the direction which achieves the highest ground speed after excluding any prevailing wind. This can mean leaving a slow climb to fly through an area of less lift or even sink to a stronger climb on the other side.

This effect would be caused by the air rushing in down low to replace the air that is being displaced vertically. This is something that we all know but I have only recently realised how handy it is for locating a solid core.

I have discussed this situation with more experienced pilots in the past but until now I have never really known why I thought there was a stronger climb in a certain direction. It seems that until recently my subconscious has been working this out for me to some extent. I am now trying to train myself to be more sensitive to this sensation.

So, back to the original question. Why did they turn that way? I am unsure if an observer from the ground would be able to see the slight variations in track involved in this model. Maybe we can… Maybe from the ground we have a better vantage point to observe this lateral than the pilot themselves… Or maybe not and I’m just imagining it all.

These sensations can be quite subtle. With practice, airtime in thermic nil/light wind conditions and some thinking about what is going on this could prove to be a useful feather in your cap.