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Saturday, July 22, 2023 17:45 PM UTC

Sim Soaring Club Escape From Corsica 304km

MSFS Server: Southeast Asia

Sim date/time: July 22, 12 noon local

Max start 4000 Feet MSL

Distance is 304km, expected duration ~90 min

Meet/Briefing: 17:45.  At this time we meet in the voice chat and get ready.

Synchronized Fly: 18:00.  At this time we simultaneously click fly to sync our weather.

Task Start: 18:30.   At this time we cross the starting line and start the task.

**Briefing:**
This is mainly a ridge task, but clouds are working should you need to thermal to make the jump over the sea.

Route planning should be fairly straight forward. Just enjoy the beautiful sights of the Mediterranean islands.

recommended map source: google maps (pro)

 

 

.PLN and .WPR here - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SfdoRLmN9srHDEB1r0tVqV79VQWYo9h4/view?usp=sharing

You can examine task and weather by dragging and dropping them here,  https://xp-soaring.github.io/tasks/b21_task_planner/index.html

I recommend the Jonker JS3 Rapture,   or the Schleicher AS 33 ME.   (The default MSFS gliders have great models,  but the variometers don't function correctly and the glide ratios are incorrect among other issues)

 

Edited July 22, 20232 yr by Waldo Pepper

 

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The Illustration shows where you can find lift using the weather preset.

1. Ground Thermals:
You will find lift above **cities, rocks, beaches** and other surface types that get heated by the sun.
These thermals can be strong, but are not very large and not easy to circle in, as they are very patchy in nature.
These thermals stop approximately at the cloud base. 

2. Cloud Thermals:
To find cloud thermals, pick a large and dense cloud and fly towards the **windward side next to the cloud.**
These thermals stop approximately at the cloud top. 
It's important to note that cloud- and ground thermals can add to each other when combined.
ie. there will be more lift under a cloud over a city than over forest or water.

3. Ridge Lift:
To get ridge lift, fly between **500 - 1500 ft above the slopes. **The steeper the slope, the more lift it will produce. 
Ridge lift can also be combined with ground thermals. 
ie. there will be more lift over a sun-facing mountain rock, than a tree-covered slope in the shadow.
Flying high above the ridge will not give you any lift, as the wind will be much weaker above 1500 ft AGL.

One of the key features of the Soaring Weather presets is the fact that the wind layers are set up for Altitude **Above Ground Level (AGL)**.
The peak of a mountain is equally 0 ft AGL as the surface of the sea.
Keep a close eye on your AGL and wind speed data when ridge soaring.

 

You can expect an international crowd.  Cordial bunch.   Mix of IRL glider pilots and sim pilots.

If you "don't do discord",   just show up at LFKF at 18:00 UTC on the SE Asia server and follow the group!   

(SE Asia server is used because it has low traffic,  works great even though my ping is really bad)

The starting gate has a 4,000 ft max alt.   You have to cross under it or the task won't start on your nav display.  

The turn points have a 1000m max radius.

Edited July 22, 20232 yr by Waldo Pepper

If you try the JS3,    flaps 1 is -3 deg,   flaps 2 is zero degrees,  3,4,5 are positive.

Use flaps 1 after 90 knots,  flaps 2 from 70 to 90,  Use flaps 4 in tight thermals,    flaps 5 when the thermal requires minimal centering.

This chart shows the glide ratio vs flap setting and airspeed,  glide ratios circled in red.

The JS3 download includes the 15m and the removable 18m wing tips.

The manual is located in "JS3-18_MadoloB21_2.0.2\SimObjects\Airplanes\JS 3 18m Aircraft\docs"

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A basic comparison of the 15m and 18m: The best glide ratio of the JS3-18 is ~56:1, and the JS3-15 is ~50:1.

This mostly makes a difference while thermalling in weak to medium thermals or on a final glide in weak conditions. Let's be honest you're unikely to be in either of those situations in MSFS.

At high speed, the margin between the two gliders begins to shrink, and at 140 knots the glide ratio of the JS3-18 (~26:1) is only a little higher than the JS3-15 (~25:1).

Back in the day before 18m (or 20m) gliders were popular, the competition classes jumped from 15m flapped to Open Class (with planes ~25/26m wingspan). Counter-intuitively the 15m gliders could be faster than the open class on a really strong day as the Open class ~60:1 floaty glide capability kicks word not allowed in weak conditions but becomes a liability at high speed.

The handling of the JS3 15m and 18m in MSFS is similar, the performance differs slightly as reported above, the 15m carries less ballast and is permitted a lower max total weight (525Kg vs 600Kg) and the net effect of all that is the 15m has a lower max wing-loading but the performance is still awesome. The roll-rate of the 15m is slightly better in the sim but you might not notice. The instruments in the 15m and 18m are exactly the same, with the idea being you've attached different wing tips for the two wingspans (as RL). You'll see a piece of sticky tape on the 15m panel reminding you that you've attached those tips. The two packages in MSFS are necessary as there are a bunch of files that need to be swapped in/out between the 15m and 18m such as the flight model, and that's not something MSFS can do in a single package.

 

Edited July 22, 20232 yr by Waldo Pepper