Planning a Flying Day: A Checklist from the Evening Before to Launch
A practical checklist for paraglider and hang glider pilots: the big weather picture, choosing a launch, the morning check and the decision on launch — step by step.
Good flying days are made the evening before. If you know what you’re looking for, you won’t waste a day driving to the wrong mountain. This checklist takes you in three steps from the weather situation to the decision on launch.
1. The evening before: situation and candidates
- Big picture: high pressure, weak pressure gradients and dry air are a good start. A front, strong wind aloft or foehn usually rule the day out.
- Wind: switch on “Surface wind” in the thermal map and drag the time slider to midday. Which direction, and how strong?
- Launches: the dots on the map are coloured by wind and weather. Green is a candidate, yellow (marginal) a maybe. Note two or three sites with a matching launch direction — ideally facing different ways, as a fallback.
- Thermals: how high will the usable working height get, and from when?
- Thunderstorms: CAPE and precipitation in the afternoon. If yes: launch early, land early.
2. In the morning: cross-check
- New model run: ICON-D2 is recomputed several times a day. If the picture has changed since last night, trust the newer run more.
- Open the meteogram of your candidates: when does the green launch window open and close? What’s the wind at ridge height?
- Airspace along your planned route — and the current NOTAMs.
- Equipment: reserve repack, glider check and harness up to date? In your thermal map account you can record maintenance dates for your gear.
3. On launch: reality has the final say
- Watch the windsock and streamers — for several minutes, not just a moment. Are there gusts, is the wind turning?
- Read the sky: how are the cumulus developing? Where is the base compared to the forecast?
- Other pilots: what are those already in the air doing? Climbing, struggling, landing early? With “Live traffic” the map shows who is flying in the area right now.
- Landing field: what will the wind be like there in the afternoon? Mind the valley wind.
- Yourself: rested, focused, within your limits?
The most important rule
The forecast tells you whether it’s worth driving there. Whether you launch is decided on launch. Not launching is never a mistake — there’s always another flying day.
After the flight
Make a quick note of how the forecast matched the actual day: base, wind, thermal start. After a few weeks you’ll know how to read the numbers for your local hills. The thermal map’s flight log records flights with an OGN tracker over Austria automatically.