On Wednesday, May 7, 2014 9:51:43 PM UTC-4, son_of_flubber wrote:

Why do so many experienced thinking pilots enter spins from low altitude turns?

The explanations offered for ridge flyers make sense. I wonder if risk taken in normal ridge flying (and the low-altitude experience gained) reduce pattern spin risk?

On Thursday, May 8, 2014 1:00:20 AM UTC-4, Bruce Hoult wrote:

The bigger mystery is why competent people stall and spin over flat land, on the notorious turn from base to final.

Just after posting my question, I found something in Dr. Dan's latest Soaring RX column "How to Spin Unintentionally":

Dr. Dan wrote in Soaring Magazine May 2014:
"We may get into trouble because we spend too much of our time soaring and not enough doing pattern tows. Our brains then build patterns that don't include the sensations of low-level flight. A reason to go to the airfield and do pattern work on poor soaring days is to rebuild those low-level gestalts, so that our brains easily shift from the high-altitude to the low-altitude vection sensations as both being normal and expected."

This is a compelling idea. As the average duration of my flights gets longer, I get relatively more experience flying at high-altitude than at low-altitude. I spent a much higher percentage of my time doing pattern tows as a student pilot. As a student, I was much more current at low-altitude flight. Dr. Dan recommends pattern tows to keep my low-altitude proficiency current and in balance with my ever stronger high-altitude proficiency.

Dr. Dan also notes (as have others) that soaring pilots can refresh their proficiency in low-altitude flight by practicing ground reference maneuvers in a power plane (with a CFI that is current in low-level flight).

So the next time that the lift does not materialize at the airport, I will 'waste money' on some pattern tows. I also plan to 'waste money' flying ground-reference maneuvers in a power plane with a current CFI.