Talk:Thermal

Keep two separate articles
I have been a glider pilot for 24 years and never heard the term 'vertical draft' or even 'vertical draught'. (Draft is an American spelling incidentally). The vertical draft article deals with both updraughts and downdraughts from all causes. Thermals are a single instance and deserve specific treatment in a separate article. The relevance of other languages escapes me. What matters in en.wikipedia is what English-speaking people understand. JMcC 17:15, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

OK but needs extending
What I want to know is where to look for thermals. I hear various opinions. Is it over ploughed ground, pine trees? And when? I fly a model glider in a large shallow bay when the tide's out. There's a grassy ridge and golf course behind me and when the tide's out, a large expanse of flat firm wet sand in front, with the water behind that, including a river. On the other side of the bay (a mile away) are pine trees in one part and grass in another. Where and when should I look for thermals in this bay?

John R Carter 08:35, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

—Preceding unsigned comment added by 142.227.150.131 (talk) 17:31, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Going to try to work on expanding where thermals can be found as well as expanding reference section for a more reputable article

WHITENR6428 (talk) 05:52, 22 November 2019 (UTC)

Thermals and Ballooning
Perhaps some attention can be given to how thermals affect hot-air balloons. See this FAQ and this FAQ. I've been working with the ballooning community for about 20 years, but I am not a pilot and I don't understand enough of the physics to adequately explain the issues. Pfrowe (talk) 15:04, 15 October 2013 (UTC)

Origin
Thermals are created by the uneven heating of Earth's surface from solar radiation. This is true, but if the heated surface is large enough, also an evenly heated surface will produce thermals. 2003:F5:6F0B:1E00:D985:4AF2:C89A:E285 (talk) 11:33, 22 November 2020 (UTC) Marco PB