New member Tigerclaw

[korkiley]

Thanks Kor, all taken on board. It would be nice if there was somewhere to download these FTR files so new comers can learn from someone else's flight. As you say, that would be really cool.

You can do that quite easily since you are a Condor Club premium member. Go to the competitons tab and choose a race series that is already in progress. Click on the tasks button then click a task that has already completed. There will be three tabs on that window. On the first one, Task Description, you can download the flight plan. From the next one, Race Results, you can download the ftr file of a competitor by clicking on their position number. Be sure to download the file to the FlightTracks folder under your condor installation directory. Actually, if you are using Windows 7 or later, your user data won't be in the default installtion directory, c:\program files (x86)\condor, but in a corresponding virtual store directory, C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\Condor\FlightTracks. This is because the program files directory is protected and doesn't allow writing user data there. However, I'm assuming that since you installed condor under c:\condor, you won't have that problem.

One other tip, if you don't see the ghost flights there that you expect, try unchecking the filters one by one under the filters dropdown. You will most likely need to do this if you change any of the parameters on the NOTAM page.

[Tonyh]

Thanks Kor, all taken on board. It would be nice if there was somewhere to download these FTR files so new comers can learn from someone else's flight. As you say, that would be really cool.

Plenty of flight tracks here you can download as a premium member - http://www.condor-club.eu/comp/show/0/?id=153

But beware some tricky tasks in this lot.

Or you can pick a task you like on Condor Club and see if any results with flight tracks are available eg http://www.condor-club.eu/besttimes/0/?id=6255

[Tigerclaw]

Thanks guys, that should really help bring me upto speed, so I don't make such a BIG pratt of myself I still won't be "good" but at least I won't look a total dufuss .

Of course I'll only pick the "easy" ones, nothing too hard to start with. Should be fun

[Olympia]

Why not just find a nice flattish scenery and set up your own little tasks to begin with? When I joined this sim I set up tasks to repeat ones I had done in RL as I was a 1000+hr real life glider pilot and instructor and the English scenery I needed was available. I repeated my Silver and Gold flights, and tried a few more demanding tasks before joining in the competitions. You are less likely to embarrass yourself if you start your flying where no one is watching. If you have not actually flown a real sailplane you may need to do quite a bit of flying on your own till you can cope with some of the more exotic ships available. You also need to familiarise yourself with the functions of the PDA. We don't actually yet have a single seater plane on Condor which could be classed as a 'beginner's' ship, but the ASK 13 is pretty near as it mimics the ASK 8 pretty well and is not encumbered with retractible gear, flaps, and water ballast. As well as just cruising along in a task, there are some other skills you will need like ridge and wave flying , though ridge doesn't work all that well currently in some sceneries and is dramatically wrong in others. Also you will find time spent getting your circling technique just right is essential for thermalling.

Just my 2c.

[Tigerclaw]

Hi Olympia,
I've been setting myself very small tasks, just for testing purposes, and to get used to the controls etc. I haven't actually had a lot of time on my hands lately, but I expect to put in a 4+ hour flight either Saturday or Sunday. I'm quite capable with the Discus, and I quite like the 18m one. My circling technique is pretty bad to be honest, but I do manage to stay in the thermal, or find the core again if I lose it. Ridge lift hasn't shown itself yet in Condor, but I've done plenty in FSX.

I have no intention of competing, but I don't want to ruin anyones day. That's why I'm getting a handle on things in free flight at the moment. The tips from the other guys here will enable me to fly along with company, watching and learning. And that's good. I'll be around on a server soon enough.

[Tigerclaw]

Jumped on a free flight server tonight, just to test things out. Did a short 1½ hour flight testing thermals and such. Just looked at the flight track and I think I need supervision I should NOT be left alone in the cockpit of a glider

Naw it weren't too bad, definitely need work though. However, I DID learn a few things about the PDA, which was good. Looking forward to the weekend now. I will go have another look at the manual to see what more I can learn from it "on the ground" before my next disaster in the air

[korkiley]

Jumped on a free flight server tonight, just to test things out. Did a short 1½ hour flight testing thermals and such. Just looked at the flight track and I think I need supervision :shock: I should NOT be left alone in the cockpit of a glider :lol:

Naw it weren't too bad, definitely need work though. However, I DID learn a few things about the PDA, which was good. Looking forward to the weekend now. I will go have another look at the manual to see what more I can learn from it "on the ground" before my next disaster in the air :lol:

If you have any specific questions, please let us know!

[Tigerclaw]

The only specific questions I can think of relate to peoples opinions on what clouds are best, and what people think of certain sceneries. But I'm sure a search here will result in information, so I'll leave those questions for now.

[Tigerclaw]

Well, I've tried a few servers now. Not very active are they?

Just come off a server where you winch launch from Salzburg. No Thermals that I could see, and the "ridges" were too far away to make use of any ridge lift. What is the point of that? Why would someone set up a server where you don't stand a chance of soaring? I thought the whole point of a soaring simulator is to soar?

I'm done with this. It was recommended to me by someone on a another forum, and his opinions are worth nothing to me. I've spent over 100 pounds on the sim, plane packs, and scenery, and as far as I'm concerned it's been a total waste of money.

[Olympia]

Well you clearly don't seem to be a real life glider pilot, or your recent Condor experience would not be a surprise. I flew in sunny Essex for a number of years at North Weald. Even on a good day in the summer your chance of contacting lift off a motor launch (we used the reverse cable system in those days on the 6000ft runway) was only about one in three launches. Aerotowing was usually better because the tug would take you to the nearest thermal. Did you try an aerotow in Condor? I instructed at North Weald and had perhaps more opportunities than most to find thermals, as I might make twenty or more sorties in a day. Consulting my log book for that time, I see that my one in three estimate was a bit optimistic. If you were looking for a simulator where all you had to do was get a launch and a long flight would be guaranteed then you were looking in the wrong place. Condor is one of the most realistic sims you will ever find. If you want guaranteed stay up-ability try FSX. Personally, apart from the sexy scenery I find FSX flying boring in the extreme, but it's your call.

[Tigerclaw]

Nope not a real life pilot of any kind, as already stated. But I do realise soaring is dependant on the right conditions. My point was mainly about the way the server was set up. Baring in mind Condor doesn't do real world weather, one would expect at least some reasonable conditions.
To me, flying on a server with other people is a place to meet new people and find buddies to fly with. How is one supposed to meet people on a server when you can't spend more than five minutes on it? That rather makes the server pointless. Unless of course people like to take off, do a quick circuit and land again?

[korkiley]

That's sad that you spent the money and are so disappointed. I think I warned you that this is a soaring COMPETITION simulator. You can, of course do anything you want with it. I'm not sure what you expected. It could be that your frustration and disappointment has more to do with lack of experience then the shortcomings of the software. I'm not a real life glider pilot but I do have a private pilot license in my background so the principals of flying are second nature to me. Nevertheless, it has taken me many, many hours of practice and experience to become really proficient with Condor. Personally, I love that challenge just as I have enjoyed the challenge of becoming a proficient windsurfer and ski racer.

I'm bringing this up because activities need to match our personalities to be enjoyable. To save you from having wasted your money, I would encourage you not to give up so soon. I just wonder if, because of the depth of your experience with FSX, you think you should be able to jump right in to Condor with a minimal learning curve. I think you need to stay positive and accept the challenge.

Why should you be so disappointed if a server that you joined isn't set up to your liking? There are plenty of servers with all kinds of tasks and activities. If you don't like one, just try another. I would be curious to know which server/task you are talking about. If you tell me, I'll check it out. That will give me a better idea of where you are coming from.

Don't give up!

[Tigerclaw]

At the moment I'm only joining "free flight" servers Kor. There was only the one that I could see today, with one other person already on it. I joined the server and it was set up for winch launch. I had quick look around in the 3 seconds before launch, and the only cloud I see was miles away behind the mountains. The scenery was Alps XL and the start airport was Salzburg. I don't know if you know the area, but I've flown there in a sim many times, so thought it would be a great place to soar. Unfortunately the winch rope is only so long, and the mountains x distance away, with no lift in-between, it was pretty impossible for a total novice to reach the mountains to gain ridge lift. I think 3 other people joined during the two times I tried, and no one stayed very long.

I don't know if the helpers were active, I never tried them. I didn't even think of them until just now. I don't want to use the helpers anyway. I'm not expecting a server to be "set up to my liking", that would be boring. And that's why I don't bother too much with free flight stuff unless I'm testing. But surely anyone setting up a server for people to join, would set it up so they could fly? If I recall the weather, it was something like winds 110 @ 17knots, cloud base was set to 2000ft. I thought that was a bit low for the area when I saw it, as the mountains are higher than that. I KNOW that means nothing and no relation, but it struck me as low before I joined. Can't remember the temps, didn't look. Maybe I should have.

I do know it's a "competition" simulator, but that's not mandatory. I'm not gonna go blundering into a server and screw up somebody's chance at a record, or badge, or whatever. I just wanted a server to soar around in and maybe learn from others in an environment that wouldn't ruin someones day. If I can reach a thermal, or ridge, then I can stay up and soar. I may not be perfect at it, and I may drift in and out of a thermal. But I can find it again, and carry on. If it's there. My flight may not be "pretty", but at least it would be satisfying. At the end of the day, if I was a glider pilot I'd know what is a good day for soaring, and what is not a good day. That server must have been set up for "not a good day" for soaring. Where's the sense in that?

Anyway, I probably won't give up that easy, but I can see myself not bothering with the servers. I'll just have to get used to flying on my own I guess.

[EDB]

I think you should try real tasks online.
Most gliderpilots get bored in free soaring servers.
And maybe you started at the wrong moment. Most RL gliderpilots are getting back in the air again.
March, April and Mai are good month for RL soaring. Then Condor is on a low... until November mostly... Then all the big Condor competitions start again and more pilots will be online.

Perfect would be if the online task isn't part of a competition. There might be someone in the server that will be willing to help you...
Connect in TeamSpeak on the condor-club.eu server and choose a channel of your native language.
Ask which task they are flying and if you can join them. Tell them you are new to Condor and soaring in general...

When it's a competition everyone is battling for seconds and they won't have the time to help someone.

Mid-airs in Condor do occur because visibility is less then in real life.
People can react angry because they will loose 1 minute or more and in a competition seconds can count, but at least no one gets hurt...

Some basic rules :
1. Always turn left within 10km from the startsector
2. Always pass someone on the right
3. Show yourself in a thermal. Fly opposite of someone or stay behind someone.
Thermaling behind someone is safer in Condor, because you will have the other one visual all the time, but I hate it when someone gets on my tail in RL... Especially when I don't know his skills...

But when flying on a ridge :
1. Make all turns away from the ridge;
2. Do not fly directly above or below another glider;
3. Pass another glider on the ridge side, anticipating that the other pilot will make a turn away from the ridge; and
4. The glider with its right side to the ridge has the right of way. (He can't divert to the right, so the other glider has to)

And if you collide just press the Q button...

I fly in RL and did some offline tasks before joining a competition last year...
The first tasks you are just flying to finish. Flying like a tourist... But as you progress you want to become faster and faster... And before you know it you will be hooked...

And remember :
Flying isn't difficult... "You can teach a monkey how to fly if you give him enough bananas"...

PS
FSX is boring...

[korkiley]

At the moment I'm only joining "free flight" servers Kor. There was only the one that I could see today, with one other person already on it. I joined the server and it was set up for winch launch. I had quick look around in the 3 seconds before launch, and the only cloud I see was miles away behind the mountains. The scenery was Alps XL and the start airport was Salzburg. I don't know if you know the area, but I've flown there in a sim many times, so thought it would be a great place to soar. Unfortunately the winch rope is only so long, and the mountains x distance away, with no lift in-between, it was pretty impossible for a total novice to reach the mountains to gain ridge lift. I think 3 other people joined during the two times I tried, and no one stayed very long.

I don't know if the helpers were active, I never tried them. I didn't even think of them until just now. I don't want to use the helpers anyway. I'm not expecting a server to be "set up to my liking", that would be boring. And that's why I don't bother too much with free flight stuff unless I'm testing. But surely anyone setting up a server for people to join, would set it up so they could fly? If I recall the weather, it was something like winds 110 @ 17knots, cloud base was set to 2000ft. I thought that was a bit low for the area when I saw it, as the mountains are higher than that. I KNOW that means nothing and no relation, but it struck me as low before I joined. Can't remember the temps, didn't look. Maybe I should have.

I do know it's a "competition" simulator, but that's not mandatory. I'm not gonna go blundering into a server and screw up somebody's chance at a record, or badge, or whatever. I just wanted a server to soar around in and maybe learn from others in an environment that wouldn't ruin someones day. If I can reach a thermal, or ridge, then I can stay up and soar. I may not be perfect at it, and I may drift in and out of a thermal. But I can find it again, and carry on. If it's there. My flight may not be "pretty", but at least it would be satisfying. At the end of the day, if I was a glider pilot I'd know what is a good day for soaring, and what is not a good day. That server must have been set up for "not a good day" for soaring. Where's the sense in that?

Anyway, I probably won't give up that easy, but I can see myself not bothering with the servers. I'll just have to get used to flying on my own I guess.

Sorry Tony. I took a look on the server and the task or free flight that you refer to isn't there now. One thing to pay attention to is the height of the inversion layer. The inversion layer is the line and altitude that goes through the cloud or is a bit above or below it on the thermal graphic of the task. If that line is below the cloud or near the base, no clouds will form but the strength of thermals will still be controlled by the strength setting, and width and activity will also reflect those settings. The thermals are referred to as "blue thermals." In real life there will be other visual indication of thermals like dust devils, but Condor doesn't model them. It could be that the task to which you refer was may have had a lot of blue thermals. Weather like this is a bit weird. You feel like you are flying blind because you know that thermals are out there but there is no indication of where. But if the thermal density is reasonable, just fly straight and you will eventually blunder upon one. Since you don't know where they are and have no visual indication of how strong they might be, you have to fly much more conservatively, try to stay as high as possible and be much less fussy about rejecting thermals that aren't as strong as your MC recommends. Actually, I guess you might lower your MC to account for the uncertainty.

If the inversion layer is above cloud you will get very well developed cumulus, etc.

I can't say that I love a blue thermal day, but having a variety of conditions like this keeps things interesting.

Please bear in mind that anyone can host a server, so you have to learn which ones to avoid and which ones have good tasks.

I've discovered the Soaring on Heaven competition series relatively recently, and I think the tasks there are good. I particularly like the "Real" category which is designed to be more realistic, and therefor more difficult and a bit longer. Their tasks aren't showing up on the condor server now but you can start right from their web site. There is a "connect to server" link on each task page.