How to fly fast and win online races

[janjansen]

The determining factor for the cruise speed in the MC theory is not the setting but the climb rate achieved

I think we all agree maximizing climb speed is more important. But your math assumes still air between thermals. If you would account for speeding up in lift and slowing down in sink, youd get a very different result, especially with higher performance gliders.

[Aquila]

I don't log much on condor club, I fly for fun and with another group though not lately because life

[Aquila]

The determining factor for the cruise speed in the MC theory is not the setting but the climb rate achieved

I think we all agree maximizing climb speed is more important. But your math assumes still air between thermals. If you would account for speeding up in lift and slowing down in sink, youd get a very different result, especially with higher performance gliders.

Slow down in lift, speed up in sink..... maybe that's why the math doesn't work for you.

Try it and ignore MC, it doesn't have to be done by the numbers quite so heavily and you're guessing the lift element for MC, I'm using known lift (the lift I just left) for my method. I also know how long I should search for lift (twice the time i spent climbing) before I reduce my minimum thermal threshold.

What I know is it works for me.

[janjansen]

Slow down in lift, speed up in sink..... maybe that's why the math doesn't work for you.

Slowing down in sink is what your math tells us.

[Aquila]

Slow down in lift, speed up in sink..... maybe that's why the math doesn't work for you.

Slowing down in sink is what your math tells us.

My math isn't complete but is a starting point for how I go fast. Too many people on the internet expect to be spoon fed all the information rather than trying it and making their own discoveries. Condor is a game which gives you the ability to fail in your efforts to see what works and what doesn't.

[timbaeyens]

"Slow down in lift, speed up in sink...."

Well thank you for your "secret", but that is very basic knowledge.

[Aquila]

That's not the secret.

[janjansen]

So, you do mental math to get to a number, but there is also a right line next to it which is a secret you are not telling us, but even with that, its still an incomplete theory that you dont actually follow whenever you encounter lift or sink. .. ? but somehow all that is much simpler and especially better than looking at your vario's chevrons pointing up or down, indicators based on your plane's known performance and an actual demonstrable (and simple) theory. If you dont mind, I think Ill stick to 75 year old proven maths over an incomplete nebulous partially secret theory that has not demonstrated anything.

[Aquila]

So, you do mental math to get to a number, but there is also a right line next to it which is a secret you are not telling us, but even with that, its still an incomplete theory that you dont actually follow whenever you encounter lift or sink. .. ? but somehow all that is much simpler and especially better than looking at your vario's chevrons pointing up or down, indicators based on your plane's known performance and an actual demonstrable (and simple) theory. If you dont mind, I think Ill stick to 75 year old proven maths over an incomplete nebulous partially secret theory that has not demonstrated anything.

That's up to you but there are assumptions and flaws in MC theory. Im just sharing some of how I fly faster, slight remiss of you to dismiss it without trying it.

[janjansen]

Of course. No one is arguing you have to religiously chase MC speed, much of this thread is basically about that, but MC provides a theoretical baseline to start from.

Are there no flaws or assumptions or simplifications in your "theory"?

[timbaeyens]

Let's get back to sharing actual tips and tricks on "how to fly fast and win online".

Thanks Witor, Wiek and others for sharing your verifiable views, which are proven to work and close to theory.

"The earth is flat and I can prove it, but you have to find out yourself" kind of discussions are not my cup of tea.

[janjansen]

OK, here is another topic; what is your secret to achieve good race starts? I wasnt very good at it in C2, but eventually got used to (nearly) fluttering over the start line, by first getting to the right speed a few Km from the line, and then using airbrakes to get to the correct height. In C3 I find it a lot harder to get anywhere near the correct max speed and height without incurring penalty points.

[wickid]

"The earth is flat and I can prove it, but you have to find out yourself" kind of discussions are not my cup of tea.

The earth is flat! At least in Condor

OK, here is another topic; what is your secret to achieve good race starts? I wasnt very good at it in C2, but eventually got used to (nearly) fluttering over the start line, by first getting to the right speed a few Km from the line, and then using airbrakes to get to the correct height. In C3 I find it a lot harder to get anywhere near the correct max speed and height without incurring penalty points.

Give yourself space. Fly a flat approach to the start line at the correct speed. I treat it as a final to a landing point. The "landing point" is the start line at the correct height. So I fly my "final" at the correct speed and try to get to a point where I need about half speedbrakes to be at the correct height at the startline. Then it is just like flying a final to land. Keep speed with pitch, and adjust airbrakes to control the "landing point".

[janjansen]

Flying it like a final glide makes complete sense, but FG for me is following the red dot (well, red lines now ). The condor PDA aims for the bottom of the start sector, so Im still just guessing (and mostly guessing wrong ) I also find it much easier to visually guesstimate a FG angle to the ground than to a line in the sky, even with TP helpers I cant always tell Im above or below it, or by how much

[wickid]

Flying it like a final glide makes complete sense, but FG for me is following the red dot (well, red lines now ). The condor PDA aims for the bottom of the start sector, so Im still just guessing (and mostly guessing wrong ) I also find it much easier to visually guesstimate a FG angle to the ground than to a line in the sky, even with TP helpers I cant always tell Im above or below it, or by how much

Use the LX. It does a final glide to the start altitude