Alistair Wright wrote:


Wow! Things have moved on since I retired from gliding then! We were
taught to start field selection at 1500ft AGL and have our field(s) sorted
by
1000ft at the LATEST. I would be doing my circuit at 500ft, not looking
for
a field. If this is indeed the current thinking no wonder there are so
many
prangs. I made 20 field landings in my time with no accidents and no
damage

We still _teach_ that; it's sound advice for any trainee who's yet to fly
cross-country. Try suggesting that as a hard and fast rule to (say) a
Nationals pilot and you might find a different view.

The first field landing lecture I attended was given by the late Lorne
Welch. The way he put it is there are three critical heights:

a. Ensure there are landable fields around.

b. Have a definite field picked.

c. Make a firm decision to stop trying to soar and land.

Over typical English farmland on a first cross country, (a) is 2000 ft, (b)
is 1500 ft, and (c) is 1000 feet.

In a world championships in Argentina, (a) is irrelevant, (b) is 500 ft, and
(c) when the wheel touches the ground.

That was the training in 1964; it still is.

Most pilots with a few years experience operate between those extremes: the
probability of an accident is, as always, influenced by how hard the pilot
pushes his personal envelope.

--
Real name is richard