Part of the learning process in stunt is learning about atmospheric conditions and what causes them. There is wind, turbulence and thermals to deal with. When picking a flying site, pay attention to what direction the prevailing wind direction is, and what is further up wind that may change a straight line wind into a swirling mass, that is called turbulence. This can be anything from trees to rolling hills, cliffs, even parked cars. You will find that it is easier to deal with straight line wind by biasing maneuvers to use the wind to your advantage. Once the wind gets swirled up by obstacles, all bets are off! You can't predict what the "wind" will be at each lap. As already stated, power is your friend here, as well as model design. Smaller models with clean aerodynamics tend to be upset less by turbulence. Thermals are a whole 'nother matter. This what you may be feeling at your site. When a thermal goes by, it is another swirling mass of air, and will feel significantly warmer, followed by cooler air, which is the sink on the back side of the thermal. I have had thermals grab a model in the overheads and show me both the top and bottom of the model! If I'm sport flying or trying to practice, I pack it in and wait for better conditions. If it's a contest you drove hundreds of miles to get to, you gotta fly! The best thing you can do if the conditions are like this is, as mentioned, power up and be prepared and alert for anything! Sometimes this is referred to as "survival stunt!" Some guys switch to shorter lines. Others work to make the maneuvers larger with the best symmetry that they can muster. Maybe a little extra fuel in case you want to take an extra lap or two somewhere in the pattern. The contest at SIG Field is one place where you can have all three. If the wind is straight up and down the runway, you only have to watch out for thermals and use "normal" windy condition flying techniques. If it comes from the east, it is coming across a fairly large depression or hollow, with rolling hills and trees, but that rarely ever happened. If it comes from the west, it blows over the hangers that are 50 to 75 feet from the circle and that makes things really interesting! But it is the same for everybody, unless you get lucky with the flight order draw and get to go early or can catch a lull. At the contests that you go to where you have to deal with this, pay attention to how others handle it and learn from them, both what to do and what not to do.
Type at you later,
Dan McEntee