Taking off in a sailplane

In the real world, you need a tow plane to get your sailplane into the air. In Flight Simulator, you have two options for getting aloft: the tow plane or Slew mode.

Remember that although the tow plane is pulling you, you still have to fly the sailplane. Maintain the same altitude and heading as the tow plane and don't allow your plane to wander around. When you reach the altitude you want, press SHIFT+Y to release the tow rope and start flying on your own.

Staying aloft in a sailplane

Using the variometer

Although human senses can detect changes in vertical speed, they are not very good at detecting strong lift from weak lift or strong sink from weak sink, especially at higher altitudes where movement over the ground is less perceptible. This makes it difficult to maximize soaring efficiency in rising or sinking air.

An instrument called a variometer helps you know when you're in rising air and how strong the lift is. Unlike a vertical speed indicator in a powered aircraft, which indicates the vertical speed of the aircraft, a compensated variometer indicates the vertical speed of the air through which a glider is moving.

To use the variometer, fly into a thermal or into ridge lift until the variometer's audio signal begins a series of beeps that rise in pitch. This indicates you're flying in rising air. Watch the variometer rate gauge to see the rate at which the air is rising or falling.

When the audio tone lowers in pitch and stops beeping, you know you're losing lift and should seek another area of rising air if you want to stay aloft or gain altitude. Flight Simulator has a feature to make thermals visible to aid in learning to fly the glider.

Thermals

Thermals are areas of rising air caused by the sun heating the earth's surface. Sailplane pilots exploit thermals to gain altitude and stay aloft for longer periods. Thermals can be challenging to find in the real world and in Flight Simulator. It takes some experimentation and practice to use them effectively.

Thermals structurally resemble a tall donut. The outer layer (the donut itself) is a layer of descending, turbulent air. The inner layer (the hole) is where you get ascending and relatively smooth air. You want to find this inner, smooth area of rising air and fly in an ascending turn to stay within the donut.

Here are some tips regarding thermals in Flight Simulator.

• Dry land classes (such as arid desert, cities, sparse grassland) are more likely to generate thermals than damp land classes.
• The sun has to be above the horizon.
• Shadowed areas don't generate thermals.
• Cloud layers inhibit thermal generation.

Thermal generation in Flight Simulator is tied to the Disable turbulence effect on aircraft weather setting. If you select this setting, there will be no thermals in the simulator.

Schematic thermal visualization.