Episode 153- Burkhard Martens and Thermal Flying

Burkhard Martens is one of the most-recognized names in the sport. His seminal work, “Thermal Flying”, first published in 2005 is the world’s best-selling guide to the art of thermalling and XC flying. Cross Country’s team has been hard at work thoroughly revising and updating the text, line by line, and the design and photography has been refreshed to bring it bang up to date. I sat down with Burki a few weeks ago to talk about his new edition, what’s changed since 2005, and the meat of the book- how to climb!

Learning to climb well is probably the most valuable skill of all in free flying, but it can be an incredibly frustrating experience. Burki Martens’ Thermal Flying has been written as a guidebook, and whether you have one hour or a thousand hours’ airtime, you’ll find it incredibly useful.

Hundreds of photos and illustrations make technical concepts come alive and easy to understand. Technical theory is kept to a minimum while real-world experience and practical advice help you grasp tricky concepts easily.

Get your new edition here. And enjoy the show!

Show Notes:

* We get into Burki’s history and how he came to write the first edition of Thermal Flying.

* The book takes shape- what gave Burki the knowledge to write the book

* What’s the most important thing new pilots should learn?

* Weather is stronger than you are!

* The art of the climb, the art of the glide and how competitions help

* The definition of a good pilot

* How much risk is acceptable?

Thermal Flying Includes comprehensive instructions on:

* How to predict and find thermals

* How and where thermals form – sources and triggers

* Different types of thermal models

* Windward and lee-side thermals

* The theory of temperature gradients

* Vortex ring structure and lift distribution in thermals

* How to read clouds and weather

Plus hundreds of helpful tips on:

* Soaring, staying up and top-landing

* Coastal flying and sea breezes

* How to core thermals and get to cloudbase

* Valley winds, mountain flying and magic air

* Flying the flatlands

* XC tactics from first flights to 100km

Thermal Flying has been published in 15 languages and has sold over 50,000 copies worldwide. This third edition brings the art of thermal flying to a whole new generation of pilots. Burki Martens is a multiple XC League champion and an excellent coach and communicator.

Mentioned in this show:

Til Gottbrath, XCMag, Mads Syndergaard, Chrigel Maurer, Skywalk