The Perfect Thermal

The following article was submitted by Jim Scollen, a model sailplane pilot from Fort Myers, Florida who, having seen our web site, thought we would appreciate the story of a sailplane lost to the perfect thermal.

11-28-01        From Jim Scollen, down Florida way.

We fly R/C Gliders right on the edge of the ocean in Punta Gorda, FL on Wednesdays.  Today was just a little different. The field of about 50 acres has a row of mangroves at the shoreline to the north. To the south is a substantial subdivision. Lots of cement in sidewalks, cinderblock homes with tile roofs, driveways, and roads. This is the time of the year when the wind changes directions. That change along with lower temperatures reduces our hurricane risk. Today the wind was coming from the subdivision toward us and then over the ocean. Sometime around 2 PM a member launched his Bird Of Time (BOT) with a high-start into the teeth of a 5-10 knot breeze.  I launched my 2 meter-beater into the same air but he got it and I did not. I launched twice more and missed it both times. It must have been the Perfect Thermal.

I no more than landed and all the guys were oohing and ahhing.

"Look at that thing go up," they said.

I turned around to find the BOT at about 1500 feet, going up and holding steady against the wind.  While directly overhead it continued to gain altitude.  I sat and watched for a loooong time.  As the flight approached an hour, even the pilot, whose eyes are very good, was beginning to suffer Rapture of the Thermal.  As opposed to Rapture of the Deep. 

"Don’t talk to me now! I'm really busy here guys, I don't want to talk. Yes, I can still see it. I need to get it back upwind now. Boy is that thing getting hard to see. I gotta be careful to not give up too much altitude or dive too steep and blow the wing. Yeah, here it comes, now where did it go, oh there it is, was that a loop? Which way is it going now? Can you see it? Oh man, I don't seem to be making much headway into this wind. It seems that the wind aloft has gained speed.  Gosh, I don't think I'm going to get it back. Boy, isn't flying beautiful?"

AND, BOOM, IT WAS GONE! 

The field got real quiet. The pilot sat down with a BIG GRIN on his face.  "Man, if you gotta kiss one goodbye, that's the way to go. I'd rather do that than crash." For that comment I walked over and shook his hand and said, "That sure was spectacular."

So, today a Phantom BOT was born in the Perfect Thermal in Punta Gorda, FL. Its ghostly image of white and orange will occasionally appear to a few of us and we will think of its pilot. We will smile as he did and recall that, "If ya gotta kiss one goodbye, that’s the way to do it." The Phantom's spirit will live in the sky for all that care to tempt the gods of flight.  May a little of the Phantom BOT live in all of us.

This page was last changed on May 02, 2007