Nonts and Hawkswick: summer should have been like this

August 2008 was the [dullest since 1929](http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/2008/august.html "Met Office UK climate pages"). An improvement finally came in the second half of September. I enjoyed the dog ends of the summer thermals at Nont Sarahs on Thursday 18th and at Hawkswick on Saturday 20th.

Glide ratio: how much does it matter?

Stepping up to a higher performance glider or switching to a race harness could earn you a better [glide ratio][1] by 0.5 point. But what does this actually mean in terms of flying cross-country in the UK? I decided to investigate the theoretical answer with a few "back of the envelope" calculations. And I discovered that—on the average glide in the UK—*a 0.5 pt inferior glide ratio will cost you only one circle in the next thermal*.

[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glide_ratio "Wikipedia entry"