Gliders in wintertime??

[Mace 1,926]

Does cooler winter air have an adverse effect on gliders? Do glider pilots avoid flying in the winter because of this?RhettAMD 3700+ (@2.5 ghz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (94.47), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2 GB Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8, WD 250 gig 7200 rpm SATA2, CoolerMaster Praetorian

[Guest DNelson]

I'm not a glider pilot, but I can't think of any "adverse effects" that would be any worse for gliders than for powered GA airplanes. Two disadvantages I can think of are: Since there's no engine to provide heat, I'd imagine you'd either have to dress very warmly or install some kind of kerosene heater. Also, there generally won't be as many (or as strong) vertical thermal currents that glider pilots crave, since those are usually caused by solar heating of the ground surface.

[Mace 1,926]

I meant in terms of thermals and lift, and so on. Do glider pilots fly less (or not at all?) in the winter time because of less thermal lift? Or does it not matter? I guess thermal lift could be all relative.If the air is 30 degF, if you find 40 degF air over a parking lot on a sunny winter day, I guess that would be a thermal...??RhettAMD 3700+ (@2.5 ghz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (94.47), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2 GB Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8, WD 250 gig 7200 rpm SATA2, CoolerMaster Praetorian