Training Document v2.1

CROSS-COUNTRY FLYING WITH
CONDOR SOARING SIMULATOR

Training Manual v2.1
Andries Lombaard
andries@lombaard.co.za
Table of Contents
Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 2
Before you fly ........................................................................................................................................................ 3
Know these numbers! ........................................................................................................................................... 4
How much time will it take to climb? ................................................................................................................. 4
How far can I glide with a given height?............................................................................................................. 4
How much ballast should I dump? ..................................................................................................................... 5
So, lets fly............................................................................................................................................................. 6
Setup a good start ............................................................................................................................................. 6
When to stop for a climb? ................................................................................................................................. 7
Dissipating clouds .......................................................................................................................................... 7
New clouds .................................................................................................................................................... 7
Route selection and clouds ............................................................................................................................ 8
When do I leave a thermal? ............................................................................................................................... 9
McCready and Speed to Fly ............................................................................................................................. 10
Turnpoints....................................................................................................................................................... 10
Final Glide ....................................................................................................................................................... 11
The Finish Line................................................................................................................................................. 12
Assigned Area Task (AAT) .................................................................................................................................... 13
Plan your strategy ........................................................................................................................................... 13
Why is the time of the AAT important? ........................................................................................................ 13
Still on the ground ....................................................................................................................................... 13
On task ........................................................................................................................................................ 14
Using the Condor PDA ................................................................................................................................. 14
Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................................... 15
Created by Andries Lombaard

Copyright 2016 Virtual Soaring Team SA. All rights Reserved.
www.virtualsoaring.co.za
Introduction
This document represents a virtual brain dump of my own knowledge and experience flying Condor Soaring
Simulator for many years. I do not claim to be the best Condor pilot ever, nor do I think my methods are the only
way to fly Condor. Neither am I a brilliant real life glider pilot. However, much of what I have learned over the years
in Condor can easily be translated into real life gliding - this has made me a much better real life glider pilot.
One of the most important lessons I learned in Condor, was to be much more patient when thermalling. Also,
getting low is not necessarily the end of your soaring day in real life. Each time you open Condor, you have the
ability to practice all aspects of flying a soaring competition. Everything you learn can therefore become muscle
memory that can easily be applied to flying in real life.

Before you fly
It is important to study the task thoroughly before you fly. You cannot just jump in and start racing! If you have
limited time to fly in a week, it may be far better to spend one weeks time slot planning for next weeks flight.
Things to keep in mind:
Examine the weather:

o Cloud base altitude
o Thermal size and strength settings
o Wind direction and strength
Study the Task Map. Create a picture in your mind of how you will fly this task:
o Print out the Task Sheet and study it in detail, make notes according to your plan of action
o Finish line altitude important for final glide calculations
o Turnpoint size & height limits
o Airspace that might be encountered
o Mountain ridges on task that could potentially be used in flight
o Terrain (hills? mountains? valleys? lake?) over which final glide will happen. How does this impact
the height reserve required for a safe final glide?
Correct glider selection:
o Select ballast
o Remember your glider skin
NOTAM
o Launch type, be prepared
o Any penalty points set?
o Plane icons and Turnpoint Marker distances
o Any recoveries allowed?

Know these numbers!
There are a number of very important calculations you need to be able to do while you fly. Relying on a PDA or any
other glide computer is good, but losing any of those during flight might turn your day in a nightmare in real life, if
some basic calculations cannot be done. Ill share some basic calculations with you that keeps me thinking
throughout any flight.
How much time will it take to climb?

This example assumes a height gain required of 1,000m. The table below show a calculation I do in my head while
flying, determined by the days thermal strength. This becomes important when approaching final glide stage
and/or calculating your AAT ETA.
m/s Sec Min Height

1.0 1000 16.7 1,000
1.5 667 11.1 1,000
2.0 500 8.3 1,000
2.5 400 6.7 1,000
3.0 333 5.6 1,000
3.5 286 4.8 1,000
4.0 250 4.2 1,000
How far can I glide with a given height?

Figuring out final glide manually or being able to adjust your AAT distance to either increase your distance or time
on task so as not to come in short of time, is important. A good rule-of-thumb glide ratio to use for this, is 1:30.
m km
300 10.0
600 20.0
900 30.0
1000 33.3
Even more important is to know what time it takes to cover certain distances. Here are some examples showing in
minutes the time taken to cover distances. Again, you need to understand this especially in AAT situations!
km Time @ 180km/h Time @ 200km/h Time @ 220km/h

10.0 3.3 3.0 2.7
20.0 6.7 6.0 5.5
30.0 10.0 9.0 8.2
33.3 11.1 10.0 9.1

How much ballast should I dump?
In Condor you dump 1kg of ballast per second. I always count the seconds I am dumping to have a good idea of
what % of ballast I still have onboard. Here is a table as an example. On the ASG 29 dumping ballast for 20 seconds
will remove 10% of your ballast. I always try and fly with a much ballast as possible. Dumping everything will mean
I am in survival mode and need the best possible climb rate I can get, thus dumping all I got.
Time to
Ballast
Glider empty 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10%
(Kg)
(sec)
ASW27 190 190 171 152 133 114 95 76 57 38 19
ASG29 200 200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20
Keeping the above in mind, I will dump for a view seconds at a time while established in a climb. Usually starting
with 20 sec, then 30 sec then 40 sec. I will keep an eye on my average to see by how much I am able to increase it
relative to the expected days weather. If you are able to move a 1m/s to 1.5m/s or 2m/s by dumping 20-30% of
your ballast, Ill leave the rest as you get a much more optimal glide with ballast retained.
Note that it is extremely bad sportsmanship to dump ballast on top of another glider in real life, as this will
contaminate their wings with water - and give them a very poor glide ratio for a time. This could also turn into a
substantial safety risk.

So, lets fly
Setup a good start
The first and easiest advantage you can afford yourself, even before any race starts, is to make sure you have the
best possible position in relation to the start line.
These are some factors you need to consider for the start:
Maximum altitude, either cloudbase or max allowed altitude according to the task sheet
If your pre-start climb is far from the start sector, try and top-up again before you start
Ballast. Even with a weak day, try and keep all ballast onboard for as long as you can.
o Climbing slow before the start does not matter. You will get a good feel of what the expected climb
rate would be with full ballast before the start.
o Only dump ballast on your first climb on task, if required. Dont dump it all.
Choose your next climb(cloud) before you start. Have a Plan B also in mind!
Start at highest allowable and sensible speed possible. You would want to be at MC cruise speed crossing
the line.
Wind is important. You would want to start up-wind of the start line. See illustration below.
Keeping the wind in mind, the optimal distance from the Start Line to TP1 is illustrated by the green line. If you
start between the Start Line Center (Blue line) and the Red Line you will be fighting the wind all the way to TP1,
thus flying a longer distance/time. The further you start away from the start line center towards the green line, the
better optimized start you will have.
If the first leg has an almost direct head or tail wind, start line position is irrelevant!

When to stop for a climb?
Flying cross-country is fun and relatively easy, but flying cross-country fast and in competition conditions may prove
to be more challenging. Lots depend on cloud/thermal selection during flight. I always have a Plan A, Plan B and a
Plan C when selecting clouds. The only way you are able to increase your average speed over that of the next guy,
is by reducing the time you take to climb. Lets assume that in 15m Class we all fly the ASW27 at the same MC
setting, thus same Speed to Fly. The only way you will beat the rest is to find the best climbs or make sure that your
thermal technique is well practiced. If I can maintain a 2.5m/s climb rate to gain 1,000m and another pilot only
climbs at 2.0m/s in the same thermal, this means that I gain 100 seconds on him in one go. That is on average 4-5
more turns for this pilot in the same thermal. Climb a few thermals on one task, these seconds all add up!
What do I look for when selecting clouds?
Cloud size and height

Cloud base, relevant to others around
Is there a new one developing on track? Usually a small puff initially
Stay away from dissipating clouds, they are just associated with huge sink!
How firm/solid does the cloud appear?
With the help of Condors thermal helpers, I will illustrate some of the clouds I will select and why.
Dissipating clouds
Stay away, fly around them if possible. The purple
helpers moving downwards indicating sink.
New clouds
Usually a small puff, but can build out to a
massive cloud in minutes. Note the higher
cloud base. They will be my selection. If the
new cloud was not present, my obvious
selection would be the nice big and solid
cloud on the left in this image.

Route selection and clouds
Your route selection will always be determined by the clouds along the track that you fly. I will hardly ever deviate
more than 45 degrees off track for a cloud in Condor, whereas in real life this might be acceptable. An average
thermal strength is usually established before the start, as well as cloudbase. In the image below, I have Plan A,
Plan B and Plan C already selected, this will be my route down this track.
If cloudbase is 3,000m AGL, my racing band will be 2,000m 3,000m AGL. This means my cloud selection and the
time to stop for a climb will be determined by what my height is. While in my racing band, Ill use clouds to do
the typical Dolphin Flying between clouds. In this band I will fly as aggressive as my McCready allows.
Once in the 1,000m 2,000m AGL reserve band, caution will start to appear in my style of flying. While high up
in the reserve band, I may still fly as aggressive as in the racing band, if I have a definite climb spotted through
feedback from other pilots or through my own method of selecting clouds as discussed earlier.
When moving into the bottom levels between ground and 1,000m - my survival band - I will most certainly adopt
a very conservative flying style. MC might be adjusted lower, ballast might be dumped and Ill take any climb to get
high enough to safely move on to a much better cloud or climb possibility. This is survival mode.
The main objective is to stay high. Thermals in the racing band will be stronger and easier to find and core after
2 to 3 turns.

When do I leave a thermal?
I try and spend time sampling a number of thermals before the start to get a good sense of what the expected
thermal strengths will be for the day. For example, I may find that 2.5m/s is a good average before the start -
however in my experience one always finds the odd 3m/s or sometimes more here and there. These are gems
while on task and should be fully utilized when encountered.
Given that my expectation of the day is to climb in 2.5m/s thermals, I will stay in each thermal all the way to
cloudbase, as long as I can maintain the 2.5m/s average climb. The climb rate may vary while in the climb due to
the movement of the thermal, but as long as I am able to maintain at least that average I will stay. I occasionally
look at the cloud above to ensure that its not busy dissipating already. Remember, while thermalling it is important
to scan the horizon on route to figure out the next Plan A, Plan B and Plan C. Leave the thermal accelerating during
the last turn while in lift.
As soon as I lose of the thermal strength in a climb, i.e. climbing at an average of 1.8m-2.0m/s, I will leave to
explore Plan A, Plan B or Plan C down track. No more than 2 turns should tell you that this climb will not improve
again.
The same applies when pulling up in a new thermal. If in 2 turns you cannot maintain 2.5m/s and you are 80% sure
you have turned in the core of this thermal, move on. If not, you are wasting time. Usually the pull-up is a good
indicator of what thermal strength you can expect. If the pull-up is bad, dont even bother turning unless you are
out of your racing band and need to become more conservative in your flying style.
Do not stop for every thermal. Remember the table about height/distance? With 1,000m in altitude you can do
just over 30km in any of the 15m, 18m and Open Class glider. Unless the thermal is a stonker and can take you
above your expected cloudbase height, just dolphin1 through the thermal. Each time you stop for a thermal, it takes
you at least 40-50 seconds
to center the thermal,
unless you are very well
experienced in doing that.
My rule is: Fly the racing

band and climb from the
reserve band.
1
Pull up to slow down in the rising air so you spend a few more seconds there. Speed up again just before leaving the
thermal.
McCready and Speed to Fly
McCready (MC) is determined initially by the thermal sampling that you do before the start. If you are able to
establish a 3m/s average for example, your MC should be set to of this, i.e. 2m/s. This may be adjusted up or
down during the task, depending on how the weather improves or not.
Speed to fly will be indicated by the Condor PDA indicating whether you should fly faster or slower.
Pull up - Fly slower Push down - Fly faster
Turnpoints
In competition flying each second counts. One place that
you can make up some seconds is to ensure that you turn at
each turnpoint by just clipping the observation zone. Usually
in a racing task, the observation zones are set up as 500m
beer cans.
Flying through the middle means that you fly at least 500m
or more further than the pilot clipping it - thus losing about
10 seconds each time. I start rolling the glider in the
direction of the next turn at .7km from the marker. Make
sure that you dont miss the turn though!

Final Glide
The whole mission of any cross-country flight is to get to Final Glide as soon as possible, meaning that you have
enough altitude to cross the finish line. What you do to get to final glide is fly an optimal speed, identify and climb
optimal climbs and pick the best possible route.
During the task, I always monitor the altitude required for Final Glide, because this will inform my next plan of
action. By the time Im on-task, Im fully aware how much Im able to gain in height each time I stop at a thermal.
If I know that Im able to gain 800m at each stop, but I still require another 1,900m before reaching Final Glide, I
know Ill need to stop at least another 3 times.
For the next 2 thermals my game plan will remain the same as up to that point, fly the racing band, climb the
reserve band. The only difference is, now Im are looking for that stonker climb that will help me to not stop 3
times, but only twice. Alternatively, I would stop 3 times, but make sure that I dont overstay my 3rd thermal (I.e.
dont take altitude you dont need - as youre paying for the extra altitude in seconds). The last climb determines
MC setting for the rest of the flight - overriding the we set for the day before the start. If I manage to average
2.8m/s in the last climb taking me to final glide, this becomes the MC and therefore adjusting my Speed to Fly Final
Glide.
Note: Usually during the last climb, youll be adjusting the MC setting upwards. The impact of this is two-fold: youll
be flying faster on final glide, and youll need more altitude to get home. This also gives you a bit of a safety reserve:
If on final glide you encounter more sinking air than you expected, you can adjust your MC setting down a little, fly
a little slower and spend altitude at a slower rate. Practically, keep an eye on the DDH number in Condors PDA.
Make sure it stays positive, and includes a safety margin. If DDH reads zero, it means the
PDA is predicting that youll touch the ground as you cross the finish line.
Condor PDA screen 3 will display the following:
MC: McCready
Dist: Distance to Goal
DH: Height difference between you and goal
DDH: Predicted height difference between you and your goal, when you get there.
If negative, you need more height to get there, if positive you can make it.
TTG: Time to goal
ETA: Expected time of arrival
While on screen 3, you can scroll to the final TP using the Page Up key on your keyboard. A red + with a number
will appear on the left top corner, representing the number of turnpoints you still need to fly before the goal. This
will provide you with the Final Glide information on the Condor PDA.

If my Final Glide starts very high, my initial speed will be slightly
slower as Ground Speed is much higher due to Density Altitude. In
this way I gain alt on Final Glide (DDH) which could be my reserve in
case it is needed. This technique allowed me to catch another pilot
on Final Glide he started 4.2km ahead and of me when we were
80km out from the goal and I overtook him 1 km from the Finish
Line.
The Finish Line

This could make you win or lose the race. In the example below, I (the blue line) managed to beat the other pilot
(red line) that opted to flight straight to the center of the finish line. There was a mere 1 second difference between
our race times. Imagine the difference had he done what I did by flying the shortest route from point A to point B,
instead of point C?
The finish line is 4km long, make use of the full length if required. Adjust your flight path accordingly and you can
cross the line anywhere in between. Preferably the shortest route. Even consider the direction of the wind in order
to determine the fastest route to the finish line.

Assigned Area Task (AAT)
Assigned Area Tasks can be fun, but at the same time can become your worst nightmare if not flown correctly.
Condors built-in PDA does not accommodate AATs, therefore much of the time the information that you see on
your PDA is incorrect and cannot be used. In some cases, pilots use external devices like Oudie, XCSoar and others
to make this job easier. In all of my AAT flights in Condor I never used any external PDAs and over time developed
my own method to use the information from the Condor PDA to help me with my flying.
The numbers from the Know these numbers section become very important when attempting an AAT with no
external devices. Once you understand these numbers and the in-flight calculations that you can make, flying an
AAT really becomes relatively easy.
Plan your strategy

What glider class and glider will you use?
What can you expect from the weather?
o Thermal strength?
o Wind and direction?
o Cloudbase?
Identify your racing band
Task and turnpoint locations
What is the AAT time?
Why is the time of the AAT important?

Any speed calculated where you fly longer than the given AAT time, will be calculated on the actual distance and
time flown. If you come in short of time, your speed will be calculated using your actual distance over the AAT
time.
AAT Time Task Time Distance Speed

2:00 2:12 230 km 104.55 km/h Scored on actual flight time!
2:00 2:00 230 km 115.00 km/h Scored on actual flight time!
2:00 1:54 240 km 120.00 km/h Scored on AAT time
2:00 1:54 240 km 126.32 km/h Actual speed, but not scored in this way!
Still on the ground

Start by printing your task sheet. Write down on there what the AAT minimum time is. Make some assumptions
about the weather and what can be expected in terms of average speeds with the glider that you select. For
example, if the task distance around the turnpoint centers is 200km and you reckon that you can average 100km/h
on this task, a good reference could be the center of each TP sector already. Consider the wind direction, because
you always want to prevent too much headwind on any leg.

You can plot your planned route on your task sheet, however remember that in flight you may deviate as weather
may dictate a slightly different route. This is fine. The purpose of the AAT is to allow you to fly the best possible
weather, so you can create your own turnpoint in each sector. I tend to try and fly maximum distance in the 1st
Assigned Area sector. In this way you make sure that you dont fly too short. With multiple sectors it then becomes
easy to either fly wide in the next sector should time force you to or to cut it short for the same reason again.
On task
As soon as you cross the Start Line, make a note of the start time. Also note down the expected arrival time. Start
time plus 2 hours in this example. Your first 60-80km will be a good indicator of the average speeds you can expect
and the average thermals for the day. This becomes important to check your actual speeds with your planned
route. If you find that your average speed is 110km/h, this means that you will be required to fly at least 220km
during the provided 2 hours AAT. I usually add another 10-15km an hour to my estimated task average, which is as
a result of the impact of your final glide, just to be sure. Theres no penalty to flying longer than the minimum time,
so coming home a few minutes late is no problem.
Using the Condor PDA

As soon as you enter the turnpoint AAT sector, Condor will register that you made the center of the turnpoint and
count all that distance as covered even if youre still 10km away from the center! Because of this, the Average
speed displayed on the scoring overlay will show ridiculous values which you should ignore. What can be used is
the values from screen 3 on the PDA - showing you the total distance home, if you use Page Up to show the final
TP, as well as the Height required to get home from where you are right now (DDH).
The Distance reading is the important one for now. Remember the
reading will only show you the distance home. If there are more AAT
turnpoint sectors, the PDA will calculate the distance home via the
center of these turnpoints.
What you need to do, is to make sure that the first leg distance is added
to this distance and that the total adds to the minimum distance that
you have calculated before. If the distance is still short of plan, you will
have to increase this distance, starting with the first sector. This is why
I usually take max distance from the first sector, provided the weather
justifies this decision.
As soon as you turn towards the next turnpoint, the PDA will reflect the
ETA. Compare this with your Start Time plus the AAT time of 2 hours.
This is where all the calculations begin. Looking at the PDAs DDH and
your MC setting, you can calculate how much time you will spend in
thermals in order to get to Final Glide (seconds spent in a thermal =
height gained / climb rate).

Deduct this amount from the time left of the task time. Time flown less thermal time will provide you time required
on task assuming that you turn each of the remaining turnpoints at their centers. Now you should know whether
any of the following sectors should be extended or cut short when approaching them. Should you have to increase
the task distance, remember that these calculations will need to be adjusted to accommodate the changes. Each
time you enter a new AA sector, your PDA will assume that you rounded the turnpoint, the read-out on the PDA
will again provide you with new set of information to re-calculate your route home. Always keep track of the
estimated distances already covered up to that point.
Do not forget that each turnpoint, even normal 500m beer can turnpoints, are Assigned Area turnpoint sectors in
AATs. If you are in need of extra distance when you see that you will be coming short in time, use these turnpoints
and fly wide through them. This might not be much, but gaining even 1km with these turnpoints might make the
difference.
The rest of the task can be flown in the same way until you reach Final glide. Keep an eye on the ETA and DDH, as
this will tell you how much you still need to climb and the effect of this can be calculated to establish a new ETA
again.
Conclusion
Gliding is fun and a number of lessons can be taught using Condor Soaring Simulator to make your real life gliding
experience even more fun. You can improve all aspects of gliding, from aerotowing, thermalling, using MC, speed
to fly, final glide and more. All either on your own or with virtually the same competition pressures as in real life.
Soar high and be safe!


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CROSS-COUNTRY FLYING WITH

CONDOR SOARING SIMULATOR

Created by Andries Lombaard

Created by Andries Lombaard

Things to keep in mind:

Examine the weather:

Created by Andries Lombaard

How much time will it take to climb?

m/s Sec Min Height

How far can I glide with a given height?

km Time @ 180km/h Time @ 200km/h Time @ 220km/h

Created by Andries Lombaard

Created by Andries Lombaard

Created by Andries Lombaard

What do I look for when selecting clouds?

Cloud size and height

Created by Andries Lombaard

Created by Andries Lombaard

My rule is: Fly the racing

Pull up - Fly slower Push down - Fly faster

Created by Andries Lombaard

Condor PDA screen 3 will display the following:

Created by Andries Lombaard

The Finish Line

Created by Andries Lombaard

Plan your strategy

Why is the time of the AAT important?

AAT Time Task Time Distance Speed

Still on the ground

Created by Andries Lombaard

Using the Condor PDA

Created by Andries Lombaard

Soar high and be safe!

Created by Andries Lombaard

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