Word: thermal
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...current that moves up the hill-is today merely an introduction to the infinitely more exciting sport of soaring. Soaring is three-dimensional sailing whereby, to achieve altitude and distance, an expert has his choice of four types of air current: 1) hill-deflected winds, 2) thermal currents from warm spots on the ground, 3) upcurrents under cumulus clouds, 4) explosive updrafts preceding a thunderstorm. At Elmira, long ago selected as the best soaring spot in the U. S. because its prevailing west winds are deflected upwards in successive strata by the huge petrified surf of the Chemung Hills, soarers...
...half-century ago. Dr. Watts recalled, Suess of Austria realized from geological evidence that the sea had washed back & forth on the continents in great longtime pulses, but he could not explain the underlying mechanism. After radioactivity was discovered, Joly of England and others hit on the concept of thermal pulsation: radioactivity in the solid, or nearly solid, sub-crust of Earth causes heat to be stored there until the sub-crust melts. The continental masses sink deeper into this dense, viscous pool, which in turn moves sideways, bulging and rifting ocean floors, allowing heat to escape. Then the cycle...
...Soaring Society of America. For two days unfavorable winds kept the impatient birdmen on the ground, but on the third day conditions were ideal. Over the flat top of Henry Harris Ridge, newly cleared at a cost of $10,000, floated fleecy cumulus clouds with their promise of thermal currents. Beyond the Chemung Valley 900 ft. below beckoned the blue hills of Pennsylvania...
...Pont de Nemours & Co., in his new sailplane Albatross II which he and Gliderman Hawley Bowlus had designed & built in California. Like a great flying fish, sleek in the sun, Albatross II soared out over the valley, circled back over the ridge, climbed higher & higher on a thermal current. By staying in the air five hours young du Pont would get his "D" license, held by only one other U. S. pilot, John K. (''Jack") O'Meara...
...Times Square. To attempt such a distance flight now with neither map nor parachute was a risky business. But the opportunity might not come soon again. Southeast, without a second thought, young du Pont pointed the nose of Albatross II. Skillfully he darted from cloud to cloud, hitchhiking on thermal currents. Over the rugged Alleghanies he soared in silence, flew south along the Susquehanna River. Over Scranton he ran out of clouds; dropped to 500 ft. Hot air over the city pushed him up again, enabled him to float serenely through the Delaware Water Gap. With the skyscrapers of Manhattan...