I’ve been testing gliding sites using live weather. South of the equator is the place to be at the moment. My first trip was to Cape Town but I intend to go to a number of gliding sites both the MSFS (glider friendly ones) and real sites.
Site: Worcester gliding club, South Africa (near Cape Town)
General terrain: semi mountainous with some grassy planes. Good distance from main Cape Town city.
Weather: for live weather currently good. Winds seem to be westerly/southerly some thermals usually above towns and brown fields.
Airfield: good model of club house with a massive main runway and a small cross runway.
Launch types: towing easily possible from vast main runway, winch launching easily possible although you would need to find a thermal.
Local soaring: there is a mountain to the north of the airfield. It’s ideal for building up initial height inspite of being a fair distance from the airfield. I would recommend a tow to 2-3k feet followed by pushing out to the cliff. Good thermals off the local towns on the way.
Cross countries: easy route to the north up an interesting valley with a horseshoe end to it. I caught some good thermals in the valleys albeit the usual weird MSFS ones. I will post an example I’ve done.
Suggested weather: for non live weather a good plan would be thermals with a high cloud base and a strong westerly. Make sure any wind is over 12 kts as that makes the mountains work much better.
Summary: really good site, interesting scenery and good airfield. It’s not the alps but it has some good mixed terrain which means you can practice a mix of gliding.
