Sounds lovely, Rotty - you're making me homesick. I assume you're still in the 2-33? If so, don't be frustrated by your 'lack of ability' to work thermals - a glasship it ain't. Once you
do get into gliders that don't look like they should be dropping troops behind Normandy beaches, you'll find hunting and grabbing comes a lot easier. (Duh - obvious, of course; just adding my own yammer in.
)
Brett: You know, I've never made a secret of the fact that I think
all pilots should start in gliders and work their way into SEPs once the basics of flight have been learned - just an opinion. However; a lot of experienced pilots are finding that taking a summer gliding course can help basic pilotage immensely; there are a lot of pro courses out there, you might look into it; it's quite reasonable. And yes - it's every bit as magical as it looks.
Mobius: Tough question. Oh, there are the standard answers; they're available in FSX's Help section. You look for patches on the ground that absorb the sun's heat - dark patches on the ground like fallow fields, asphalt, etc. If overflight is permitted, major shopping centers are major thermal sources. Water OTOH is a lift-sink; in other words flying over a large lake (for instance) would be futile - no lift to be found.
The reason it's a difficult question is because the dynamics of lift (referring to rising air here; not a wing's lift) is insanely complex and finding it is much more an art than a science. Depending on your environment, you'll learn to identify some specific types of lift over others. For example; I'm pretty good at catching thermals, but pretty awful at finding ridges and I've never tried hunting lennies; since I learned to fly on the wide-open expanses of southern Ontario. A sailplane pilot from Alberta might well be a phenomenal ridge flier, but be a total muggins at thermals. Now - flying thermals; I rarely wasted time looking for spots on the ground. I'd watch clouds and birds; but more often than not would catch my cues from the way the Astir flew. In other words, I'd see a nice big puffy round-ish cumulus (which often are 'caps' of thermals) close to my direction of flight and aim for it. As the sailplane flew along and a wing twitched and rose slightly; I knew I was skimming a thermal strong enough to be worth catching. A quick 270 deg. turn away from the lifting wing would - hopefully - bring me right into the heart of the lift. And then the game
really starts - is the lift you've got the entire strength of the thermal or are you still too far out? Will breaking your turn and looking again pay off or send you into sink? It's a guessing game - and in the world of competitive soaring, the ones who win are the ones who guess right most often.
