The battery was flat when I was ready to take off and the tug was tugging at me. I had charged the 5030 (as I always do faithfully), but I must have left it on (at least I hope that is the explanation), so now it was flat. But I was ready to go so I said wind 'er up and let's go.

I watched Tracy and the Dragonfly closely to see when they got in lift. I wasn't about to pin off early and when I was comfortable enough with my height and I saw Tracy go up and I felt some bumps, I pinned off and started circling in the general area. I just assumed I was in lift.

I saw that Tracy was thermaling the tug a little bit upwind so I pushed forward, felt more bumps as well as the nose rise, so I starting turning there. Seemed like I was going up.

There was a ten mph west wind which would drive me to Detroit airspace thirty miles away so I wasn't really concerned about having a vario as I wouldn't be taking a long cross country flight anyway. Also, I was climbing in a sky full of cu's, so there was plenty of visual indicators of lift. After a while a vario seemed a bit superfluous.

I climbed up to cloud base in what must have been lift on average and drifted back east over the Cloud 9 flight park. I could feel the bumps of acceleration but not really the lift. I went to the upwind side of a few dark clouds and there "seemed" to be lift there.

Without the feedback from the vario it was hard to know for certain whether I was climbing. Still I could look around and get a general feeling. I could also feel the various forces on the glider and if it was being kicked around some, I assumed I was in the general area of lift.

As I drifted east another pilot further east and higher pushed upwind over me and kept going. Soon I was much higher. At least I wasn't going down as fast as he was and I "felt" I was in lift under a cloud. I was getting lots of sensory input telling me about how well I was doing but of course it was often subliminal and I had to relearn and refocus to hear what the environment was trying to tell me.

I saw the other pilot turning down below up and upwind so I went over to where he was to use him as a visual vario. I climbed back to cloud base over him. That was too easy.

Being high I headed further upwind toward highway 52 under dark clouds pouring out of the west. Their shadows were scooting across the country side and their bottoms were black. Must be lift there I figured. Seemed to be the case.

A few miles west I could see a big swirl in the corn down below. Seemed like I in a line between the swirl and the dark clouds above me. I was going up. Another pilot came in under me. I used him as another vario. The lift was pretty poor, or so it seemed, but I got up near cloud base, 3500' AGL (or there about).

I headed further upwind under dark clouds as the other pilot drifted down wind. I could see him and another pilot thermaling behind me and used their altitude to help get an idea of how I was doing thermaling in what appeared to be lift, at least it was bumpy. I checked out the horizon to see if focusing out and level would give a good indicator of lift. Seemed like a possibility.

I was climbing a bit on the guys a few miles behind so it seemed like I was doing alright, but I was a long ways from the field and not all that high. I decided to head back just to be on the safe side.

I could tell from the feel and from my altitude with respect to those two pilots that I was in pretty good sink heading east to Cloud 9. Just before I got to the field at probably 700' AGL I saw a vulture soaring, not exactly turning, but obviously happy with the lift that he was getting.

I joined him and used him as my vario for a while until he seemed to find interests elsewhere and I could feel the lift on my own. The wind was blowing the thermal apart and blowing me over trees, but it was surely there (even though I was only in it for part of the time).

Getting knocked around, not being sure where the core was, I decided that landing was a better option. The wind was strong.

It turned out to be the flight of the day. Those two other pilots who had launched long after me landed soon after me and one had to go back up for another flight.

It's great to be able (with almost no other choice) to fly without one's vario. I've done it before, but it's been a while. I really lets your mind and senses work at finding other ways to feel the lift. A vario is so powerful and over powering that these senses just don't have a chance unless they are all you've got.

You won't get the definitive feedback to say that yes you are in fact in tune with nature's forces on your own without that intervening instrument. No Obi-Wan Kenobi nearby to tell you that yes you are indeed doing the right thing.

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