2026 COLOMBIA CLINIC 7-DAY OVERVIEW

Hey everyone, I’m excited to have you all on board for this year’s trip! For the past three years I have been flying Cross County (XC) in Colombia during the winter.

We choose winter time as it is the “dry season” and typically produces the XC skies of our dreams; ideal cumulous cloud formations, gentle thermals, light winds and perfect temperatures in the 80’s.

With light winds come forward inflations (usually), so I encourage you all to stay current with them and put time in practicing beforehand as they are more committing than reverse inflations.

While the landing zone (LZ) is quite large, I recommend practicing spot landings so we increase our margin of safety. We will talk about landing approach options/bail-outs during the site brief and again as we talk flight plan.

After our first day, anticipate at least 2 flights daily; one morning and one afternoon. We will straddle peak heating and work towards flying more mid day as the week progresses.

Please have a current USHPA P2 or above rating.

Focus: Safety in flight, mental approach, foundations of thermal skills, site and weather assessment, progressive tasks, and daily briefs/debriefs.

Overall Goals

  • Build strong fundamentals in thermal identification, entry, centering, and exit.

  • Develop confident active flying and efficient glider control in active air.

  • Introduce low-stress cross-country concepts (drift, line selection, altitude management).

  • Instill safe decision-making, understanding valley winds and weather, convergence, and typical Piedechinche cycles.

  • Gradual progression from mountain launch “sled run”, to thermal flying, to supervised XC “mini-tasks”.

***ALL FLIGHTS ARE SUBJECT TO WEATHER CONDITIONS***

DAY 1 — Orientation, Gear Check, Local Weather Talk, and Evening flight(s)

Morning

  • Site briefing: Launch options, landing zones, valley breeze cycles, bail-out strategies.

  • Review local hazards (sugar cane fields, irrigation canals, power lines, aerial traffic).

  • Gear check for all students: harness settings, reserve connection, radio check (establish call structure).

  • Ground handling refresher in LZ (forward/reverse inflation in light valley breeze).

Afternoon Class

  • Intro to thermal theory.

  • Heating sources, triggers, wind interaction, thermal shape and drift.

  • Lapse rate basics and reading clouds in the Cauca Valley.

  • Pilot Observations.

Evening flight(s)

  • Later launch window in smooth air.

  • Tasks: pitch/roll control, with proper LZ approach, spot landings.

  • Focus: Active flying, maintaining angle of attack (AoA), tighter turns, clean launches and landings.

DAY 2 — First Thermal Contacts

Morning Brief

  • Weather + expected thermal onset times around Piedechinche.

  • “Thermal etiquette”—right-of-way, predictable turns, holding your line.

  • Understanding your glide; point of no return.

Flights

  • Launch near the start of the thermal cycle.

  • Tasks:

1) Thermal ‘sniffing’: identify surges, mapping rough edges

2) First turns inside lift—slow, flat 360s, maintaining consistent bank.

3) Practice leaving and re-entering light thermals to understand structure.

Afternoon Theory

  • Reading lift trend, climb averaging, mental mapping WITHOUT variometer.

  • Thermal indicators (Birds, other pilots)

  • Inconsistent thermals close to terrain—valley wind interactions.

  • Active piloting.

Day 3 — Thermal Entry & Centering

Morning Brief

  • Review mistakes from Day 2: over-banking, chasing lift too aggressively.

  • Introduce “figure-8 to 360” entry technique.

Flights

  • Goal: longer climbs and completing full thermal cycles.

  • Tasks:

1) Identify core using yaw/pitch cues, adjust bank angle to stay centered.

2) Varied turn technique: Outside brake pressure, weight shift, extending/lengthening upwind/down

wind sections of 360 turns.

3) Maintain altitude off of launch for 20–30 minutes.

Afternoon

  • Tracklog analysis: thermal drift shapes, circles vs. ellipses.

  • Mini-lecture: Inversion layers, mid-day turbulence, and when to move to the flats vs. stay in mountains.

Day 4 — Thermalling Efficiency + Local XC Intro

Morning Brief

  • Discuss typical Piedechinche valley wind build-up after midday.

  • Introduce safe XC routes: upwind leg along mountains, downwind glide to Piedechinche LZ.

  • Crossing Valleys.

Flights

  • Task: climb to cloudbase (if moderate) or highest safe altitude.

  • Introduce simple XC decision-making:

  • “Climb high, glide on a line.”

  • How to pick the next trigger point (spines, terrain changes, factory roofs, dry fields, shade, rivers etc.).

  • Small group glide tasks (instructors lead, students follow).

Afternoon Class

  • Altitude management: leaving thermals early vs. topping out.

  • Glide performance: speed-bar use in lifty/sinky lines.

  • Safety: avoiding low-save obsession.

Day 5 — First XC Attempt (Guided)

Morning Brief

  • XC briefing: objectives, route options, radio protocols, landing options in the sugar cane valley.

  • Pre-flight visualization.

Flights

  • Group XC attempt depending on conditions.

  • Tasks:

1) Thermal to safe transition altitude.

2) 1–2 glide transitions with instructor guidance.

3) Mid-route thermalling with radio-coached centering.

4) Retrieve waiting at pre-announced landing zones.

Afternoon

  • Debrief: What worked, what didn’t.

  • Tracklog comparison: climbs, decisions, drift lines.

Day 6 — Independent Thermal Work + Optional XC

Morning Brief

  • Each pilot gets an individualized focus:

  • Weak-side turns

  • Entry timing

  • Core finding

  • Banking efficiency

  • Active flying in turbulent cores

Flights

  • Students choose:

  • Option A: stay local and work on technique with instructor proximity.

  • Option B: guided XC similar to Day 5, but more independent decision-making.

  • Instructor observes and provides live radio cues only when necessary.

Afternoon

  • Skills workshop: collapses, cravats, and realistic recovery scenarios (ground simulation only).

  • Night: Optional talk on Colombian flying culture & other nearby sites (Roldanillo, Ansermanuevo).

Day 7 — Consolidation + Fun Task Day

Morning Brief

  • Final day objectives: autonomy, safety, enjoyment.

  • Introduce simple fun tasks, such as:

  • “Stay above 1000 m AGL for 30 min.”

  • “Find 3 thermals and gain at least 300 m in each.”

  • “Tag the Santa Elena and return.”

Flights

  • Pilots choose free-flight or guided XC depending on skill and conditions.

  • Instructor focuses on minimal intervention—students lead climbs and transitions.

Closing Workshop

  • Personalized feedback for each pilot.

  • Discuss progression goals for next 3–6 months (SIV, structured XC skills, mentorship).

  • Group dinner celebration.