Thermal Airspeed Evaluation Analysis

[jpretori]

As a pilot I want to see how fast I'm flying in thermals given my bank angle so that I can see if I'm flying too fast for the bank angles I used, or managed to walk the tightrope between stalling and maximising climb rate.

To get airspeed range vs. bank angles, you have to:

1. Work out the airspeed (Airspeed calculation Research #37). To do this you may need to check adjacent thermals for drift while circling, and somehow smooth out the pilot's corrective maneuvers.
2. Work out the bank angle (at least whether it's 10-20 degrees, 20-30, 30-40, 40-50, 50-60). To do this you have to take account of the airspeed and the size of the circle that results.

Hopefully these calculations can be done with the information available in the IGC file.