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### Settings

Gliders

Cumulus supports multiple gliders you can configure. So you can choose the glider you will be using for a particular flight from a list and have all relevant data available instantly. Using the buttons above the list, you can add (blank paper icon), edit (pencil icon) or delete (trashcan icon) gliders from your list. Like with other settings, changes are stored only if you exit the settings dialog with the OK button. If you accidentally delete a glider from you list, just hit the cancel button (the little X) and you'll be fine.

If you tab the add or edit button, you'll be presented with a new dialog. Here you can enter information about your glider. The polar is used for final glide calculations. Select your glider from the list, or enter the correct values for your glider in the boxes. The values represent three points on your gliders polare, that are used to make an approximation of this polare. These points are represented as pairs of speed (in km/h) and rate of sink (in m/s). For optimal results, take the speed for the best L/D as the first point, a value between 170 km/h and Vne as the third, and a point halfway in between these as the second point.

If your glider can take on water ballast, enter the capacity in liters. You can enter the amount you actually take with you on a flight in the preflight dialog.

You can see a graphical representation of the resulting polar if you select the Show Polar button. Included in this display is information on the best speed and L/D for the selected glider. With the cursor rocker you can simulate wind and lift by pressing the up/down (lift) and left/right (wind) buttons. The related tangent is calculated, the best speed and the resulting sink is displayed accordingly. With the center key you can reset all to the defaults.

To add your own types to the selection list, please edit the file glider.pol located at $HOME/Applications/cumulus. You can also add polar files in the .plr format to your document folder.

The values for registration and call sign are used in the logfiles and as a unique identifier for the glider.

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