Dynamic Soaring

Dynamic Soaring is a general term for odd soaring method. Dynamic Soaring methods have been around for just as long as the conventional kinds of soaring, but not many people recognized them. Birds do this stuff every day when they soar the leeward sides of hills, using the updraft in the circling air in what pilots call a rotor.

Dynamic soaring usually means flying on the side of the hill that faces away from the wind. This seems impossible because that side has a downdraft which should push the aircraft down. Downdrafts are doing the opposite for the aircraft and forcing it to the ground, however the air movement at the crest of a hill isn't that simple. See diagram 2 to get a better explanation of what often happens.