wrote on 9/19/2019 4:07 AM:
2g to answer your question, I can recover from a 1/2 turn spin within 150ft but my response has to be instinctive and instantaneous, which it has gotten thru lots of practice.
You never answered my querry, when is the last time you practiced spins, spin entry, and recovery? Do you intimately know the subtleties of your birds behavior when super slow? Whens the last time you've taken 10 pattern tows and seen how steep you can approach a landing spot and stop short? Do you know how short you can stop? Do you practice very very minimum energy landings to be able to fly the ragged edges of control when you really need to?

These are things every xc pilot should do yearly and definitely when in a new bird.

I disagree. Your level of commitment to landing skills is impressive but not
necessary for safe cross-country flying. I manage my risk by keeping safe landing
places (ie, airports or fields I can easily land in) within easy reach, so I avoid
the need to have such superior landing skills. I also fly a glider with "superior
landing skills" (ASH26E, previously an ASW20C) and the majority of my flying is in
benign areas; when it isn't, I raise my margins to compensate for the difficult area.

For practice, I occasionally do coordinated turns, slowing until a wing drops; and
before every landing, I choose the approach speed, aim , touch down, and stopping
point. Most are standard patterns begun at 1000' agl on downwind, but I mix it up
with lower or shorter patterns, and "expedited arrivals".

The above has worked well for 40+ years (and 1000's of hours) of flying. Staying
safe is almost entirely a matter of operating within your limits, rather than
being highly skilled.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1