| Assembly / Tuning / Piloting Whitewings | ||
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| Influence of Weather Achieving record-breaking flight times requires the cooperation of Mother Nature. Recognizing optimal weather conditions can be tricky, but here are some tips on what to look for. First, let’s pause to mention some conditions that are less than optimal. Avoid blustery days at all costs. You can imagine how gusting winds can affect the flight of a paper glider. Rain is also bad for obvious reasons: wet gliders fly like rocks. In order to keep a paper glider aloft for more than 30 seconds, you need to make use of rising columns of warm air called thermals. Riding atop air currents, your paper glider can actually continue to climb even after it levels off and begins to circle. Thermals arise naturally when the sun heats up the ground. You can typically find thermals over city streets, wide-open sandy areas and spacious fields with short grass. Lakes, rivers and forests are slow to heat up and tend to promote downdrafts, or descending air currents, which provide less-than-ideal conditions for flying paper gliders. Select your launching site with this in mind. The best time to catch thermals is between 9 AM and 12 NOON on days when the sky is clear and the winds are gentle. The strength of thermals increases toward midday when the sun is shining. Unfortunately, stronger thermals are often accompanied by gusting winds, which frequently makes afternoon flights problematic. Conversely, calm periods in the morning and evening are the best times for test flights. Finding the optimal site at the optimal time on the optimal day can be a challenge, especially since atmospheric conditions do not always follow the pattern described above. A savvy pilot needs to be on the look out throughout the day to take advantage of favorable changes in the weather. |
