Pilot Coaching
Series 2026/27

OCT · Workshop 1

Thermal Flying

Predict, find and use thermals — and build real skill for active air.

Why do this?

Thermalling is useful even if most of your flying is ridge or coastal soaring. Thermals are active air you deliberately choose to use, and learning to work them develops active piloting, glider feedback, weather awareness, situational awareness and decision-making. Controlled experience in active air also builds handling and judgement you can draw on if you meet unexpected rough air elsewhere.

What the workshop covers

• Thermal prediction — terrain, sun and heating, wind, thermal sources, trigger points, thermal cycles, time of day, changing conditions and other clues
• Thermal identification — glider feedback, vario behaviour, changes in the surrounding air, birds, other pilots, thermal edges and drift
• Thermal technique — entry, turn direction, establishing a consistent turn, centring, adjusting the circle, responding to a moving core, bank and airspeed control
• Thermalling strategy — when to accept weak lift, when to search, when to stay, when to leave, how high to climb, and how this changes when low versus high
• Thermalling safety — traffic, right-of-way and turn direction, terrain clearance, wind and thermal drift, cloud considerations, and recognising conditions beyond your current ability
• The mental game — fear of active air, overreacting to glider movement, frustration after losing a thermal, and following other pilots instead of interpreting your own information

The practical day

Predict → Find → Identify → Centre → Climb → Decide

A weather-dependent coaching day that connects directly to the Thursday session. Before launch you are asked where you expect lift and why; during and after the flight the coaching compares your prediction with what actually happened. The objective is to apply the thermal-flying process in suitable conditions — not a guaranteed height gain or flight duration.

What you can expect to develop

A working expectation of where lift should be before you fly into it, faster and clearer reading of lift once you are near it, a more consistent and better-centred climb, deliberate decisions about when to stay, leave or search, and post-flight analysis habits you can keep using.

DEC · Workshop 3

Competition Flying

Use a structured task environment to sharpen planning, navigation and decision-making.

Why do this?

Competition flying is not only for pilots trying to win. It is a structured environment that can accelerate development — defined tasks, consecutive flying days, flying alongside stronger pilots, objective feedback, and the chance to see how other pilots solve the same task. It can be a structured way of becoming a better pilot without results needing to be the point.

Scheduled deliberately just before the Porterville Paragliding Open period, so pilots entering the competition can use it as preparation.

What the workshop covers

• Choosing and entering a competition — finding suitable competitions, understanding level and pilot requirements, registration, licences and documentation, insurance, entry fees and deadlines
• Planning the trip — travel, accommodation, vehicle and retrieve arrangements, budgeting, work and leave, site research and expected conditions
• Equipment and instrument preparation, waypoints, navigation setup and appropriate backup systems
• How a competition works — meet director, task committee, safety committee, scoring, pilot responsibilities, task briefings and daily structure
• How tasks are set — forecast, expected thermal window, wind, terrain, airspace, the pilot field, appropriate difficulty, turnpoints, start position and timing, goal, safety, areas to avoid and contingencies
• The competition morning routine, and understanding and entering the task — turnpoints, cylinders, start cylinders and gates, speed section, goal, the optimised route, instrument navigation and common setup errors
• Task strategy and in-flight decisions — start timing, using other pilots as information, groups versus independent decisions, when to leave climbs, speed versus altitude, and decisions when leading, behind or low
• Competition safety, the mental game, and enough scoring theory to understand what the system rewards and why you got the result you did

The practical day

Weather briefing → Task-setting discussion → Task published → Pilots load the task → Briefing → Launch / start → Fly the task → Goal / landing → Track review → Scoring / debrief

A miniature competition simulation — a mock task. You experience task setting, loading and verifying a task, the briefing, the start, flying the task, and the track review and scoring debrief afterwards, so you can experience the competition process before entering or while developing as a competition pilot.

What you can expect to develop

A clear picture of how a competition day runs, the ability to receive, load and verify a task without errors, a repeatable competition-morning routine, a strategy suited to where you actually are rather than to the lead gaggle, and the habit of separating decision quality from outcome.