Thermals?

[gary7]

I have tried to find information about how Rocksim uses "thermals". Under the launch conditions tab while in simulations, there are about 9 different thermal settings. If I just google thermals, it seems there is more to know than I need in Rocksim. Can someone please direct me to a simple tutorial about what these mean and how they affect rocket flight? I must be the only one flying who doesn't know or understand this. I cannot can't find anything on the Apogee site about it either.

 

[UhClem]

It isn't the flight they effect but the recovery. Usually not a big thing for sport rockets with their relatively high descent rates. But contest rockets can and do float over the horizon.

 

[gary7]

It isn't the flight they effect but the recovery.

That is my understanding. I just mis-stated my question. How do thermals affect recovery?

 

[les]

Simply, Thermals cause updrafts that either slow the rockets descent or can actually cause the rocket to rise. Especially if you use too big a chute - the rocket may drift off to never-never land....
Now how to use the thermal function in RS? No clue.........

 

[cerving]

I would not be surprised if an Estes "The Dude" could get carried away by a thermal in flight...

 

[tokind]

My favorite story about thermals is a TARC team I mentored a few years back. We were way out on a mesa and I commented that things were heating up and we might see some thermals. Three of the students nodded and the fourth looked at me and then down at his shoes. Then he looked up again and said "I am the only one here who does not know what a thermal is". I gave him a quick explanation, and then it was time to launch his rocket. That year, booster and egg capsule were not required to be attached for recovery. He was excited to test his scheme of adding a bit of birdshot to his payload to fine tune the recovery time. We launched and watched as the nosecone parachute caught a thermal and started to drift upward, and down range to the west. We all lost sight of it a few minutes later and never saw it again. That young man's new nickname was Thermal.