On Saturday, May 30, 2020 at 12:47:41 PM UTC-7, Charles Ethridge wrote:
Hi all.

I've done thousands of landings in all kinds of airplanes at tower-controlled airports (now called Class B, C and D), but I've never seen a glider land at one.

Does ATC frown upon this (unless one declares an emergency in which case you have a new problem) or to they take this in stride and accommodate us gliders as an unusual but accepted part of their workday?

Faced with the choice of this or a field, what would insurance say if I broke the glider landing in the field? Might insurance deny my claim since there was a perfectly good tower-controlled airport within gliding distance?

If this is an accepted practice at tower-controlled fields, how do you get the glider off the taxiway? Do they have an FBO come out and tow you off?

Ben

I fly out of Truckee, which since 2017 is Class D with a tower active during normal soaring hours. Every glider operation is under tower control. Truckee has become a busy airport, with lots of biz jet traffic. We make it work, tower personnel are trained to deal with it mostly, and mostly because we were a "pre-existing nuisance". Part of the SOPs is to let the tower know as you enter the airspace that you are a glider with intentions to land. Sometimes we are asked to loiter and wait for jets or big twins in the pattern. Sometimes you have to tell them no, I can't do that. They *greatly* appreciate it if you manage to roll clear of the active runway (made much easier for me by the steerable tailwheel). If I was landing at a Class D unfamiliar with glider ops, I would remind them that I have a fixed decent rate, and may require assistance to clear the runway, specifically have a truck standing by with a rope. Even if they balk at the idea, you've warned them about what is going to happen.