Borrow a Duo-Discus from somewhere and ask your local
FAA inspector to demonstrate a landing without use
of the drag devices. Failing that just ask him to
show you in the Blanik. I suggest you watch from on
the ground, in case he doesn't know when to give up.

At 06:18 31 October 2004, Roger Worden wrote:
I'm preparing for my Private test, and in discussing
it with the local FAA
examiner, he indicated that one item on the test is
a landing with no drag
devices, using only a turning and forward slips. As
he explained it, the
task in the PTS is to demonstrate the ability to land
totally WITHOUT
airbrakes, to simulate a landing wherein the airbrakes
have failed.

Throughout my training I've practiced many turning
slips to FINAL APPROACH
(to lose altitude) without airbrakes, but I have always
ended the slip and
landed normally by using the airbrakes. In fact, the
PTS says 'turning slips
to LANDING, with and without the use of drag devices'.
(See the PTS task
below.) He said this landing does not have to be to
a precise point.

R. TASK: SLIPS TO LANDING
REFERENCES: Soaring Flight Manual, Glider Flight Manual.
Objective. To determine that the applicant:
1. Exhibits knowledge of the elements related to forward,
side, and turning
slips to landing, with and without the use of drag
devices.
2. Recognizes the situation where a slip should be
used to land in a desired
area.
3. Establishes a slip without the use of drag devices.
4. Maintains the desired ground track.
5. Maintains proper approach attitude.
6. Makes smooth, proper, and positive control applications
during recovery
from the slip.
7. Touches down smoothly within the designated landing
area.


Working through this with one of my instructors today
(a very stable day
with absolutely no wind), we had a hard time getting
our Blanik L13 to
descend steeply enough even with a complete, full-rudder
slip. Even after
extending the downwind, widening the pattern, and slipping
all the way from
the base turn, through the base leg, in the final turn
and most of the
final, we're still too high. We have to resort to using
airbrakes or we
float the entire length of the field. It would seem
that we would need to
extend the downwind extraordinarily, or as another
instructor suggested,
start the pattern uncomfortably low. We already were
entering the 45 at 700'
AGL instead of the usual 1000' .

So two questions, for CFIs or examiners or recent test-takers:

1. Is this the common interpretation of the task below?
No drag devices, all
the way to the ground?

2. Have you experienced/how would you deal with what
seems to be a rather
low drag ratio even with a full-rudder slip?