K13 Glider strong turbulence on thermal entry

K13 Glider strong turbulence on thermal entry – Soaring GoPro cockpit viewSince my first solo flight in September 2014, this was the first time I filmed a solo flight of mine, and it was quite a successful catch! If you watch my previous soaring video you will see the whole flight from launch to landing. After leaving a strong and constant thermal which got me up a great amount of height, I was in search for another one and flew towards the other glider which was turning in another thermal. By the time I got there he lost the thermal and started to fly away, but I continued slightly to the right and… boom! It was the most violent thermal entry I have ever had and it was more dramatic than what the video shows: While flying straight and level suddenly the stick wss thrown to one place, I completely lost rudder coordination, the airspeed indicator dropped to 20 knots and the right wing dropped: It was unexpected and initially I had no idea what I had run into, thus I was scared seeing my aircraft in an undesired and unexpected state. Watching it now brings me a laugh!