"Harold" wrote in message ...

Well obviously, but I'm not talking about in the pattern area like the
Impossible Turn is. I'm talking about 10 minutes after departure at 7k feet
where the departure airport, if you can make it, is the best landing option.
Then for all intents and purposes its a 180 degree turn.


Absolutely. As long as you have continued climbing at a higher rate
than the descent will be.

About 2 years ago I got to practice this. On an early morning
takeoff for a 300 mile cross-country flight, the OAT was cool and the
plane was light, so I climbed out at 900 ft./min. to reach my cruising
altitude quickly. At around 9K ft. the engine got real loud and I
realized I had broken something in the exhaust. I shut down the
engine so as not to catch the cowl on fire. I was 6 miles away from
the airport and knew I had climbed at much better than the 750 ft./min
descent rate, so the return glide was really a no-stress event. When
I got back to the pattern, I actually had about 1K ft. too much
altitude and had to circle to lose it before deadsticking on to the
same runway I had departed.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)