Dynamic soaring at 600 mph

Dynamic soaring is treated as a flight mode for achieving extremely high speeds, as it is the case with radio controlled gliders. This high-speed possibility exists in wind scenarios in the leeward side of ridges which shows regions of horizontally blowing wind and zero wind separated by a thin shear layer. Flight mechanics and wind modellings are developed for describing the motion of a glider. It is shown how energy can be optimally extracted from the horizontally blowing wind such that the maximum speed that is possible with dynamic soaring can be achieved. Results of the maximum-speed dynamic soaring mode are obtained using an efficient optimization method.