Fresh back from our August holiday, this week's Tuesday Tip is from the latest issue of Cross Country magazine which is in production now. It's from an exclusive in-depth post-X-Alps interview with Chrigel Maurer.

Can you explain how you fly in such a direct, arrow-like way?

When I fly, I really focus on just being in one of several modes.

That means, when I take-off or I am really low, I stay in the ‘thermalling’ mode and I try to forget everything around, I just focus really intently on my vario, watching around me for birds, and feeling my wing.

If I’m in this mode, my goal is cloudbase – or to get as high as possible.

When I’m then climbing well, I can then switch to ‘planning’ mode, and start thinking about where I’m heading next.

After I get to the top, I go into ‘glide’ mode, and try to fly as efficiently as possible, finding the best line, flying at the best speed with my speedbar, and trimming my wing.

Then when I come across lift, I try to analyse whether it’s strong enough to turn or not. If it is, I switch directly into ‘thermalling’ mode – if it's not, I continue straight.

I really try and select only the best thermals so I don’t lose time. The higher I am, the more picky I can be.

This flying style makes me quite fast.

The full interview is in issue 149 of Cross Country magazine – due out next week

Photo: Marcus King