Cloud suck The telltale signs for a pilot climbing in the thermal under a "sucking" cloud are (1) lift strengthening, (2) lift getting smoother, and (3) widening of the thermal. Paraglider pilots have reported being unable to descend in strong cloud suck, even after bringing their canopies into deep spiral, which would normally result in a rapid vertical descent. Cloud suck is especially dangerous for paraglider pilots, whose maximum speed is less than 30 knots, because storm clouds (Cumulonimbus) can expand and develop rapidly over a large area with accompanying large areas of strong lift. On 14 February 2007 while practising for
Ordinary Thunderstorms Ordinary Thunderstorms Ordinary Thunderstorms is a novel by William Boyd. It explores the dark side of London's underworld and the international pharmaceutical industry. Adam Kindred is a recently divorced climatologist who has moved back to England. After attending an interview for a Senior Research Fellowship position at Imperial College, London, he goes into an Italian restaurant in Chelsea and briefly encounters Dr Philip Wang, who accidentally leaves a file behind. Adam takes it to Wang's hotel, only to discover that Wang has been murdered and still has the knife in his body. Before Wang dies, he asks Adam to remove