Not everything can be said in a simple paragraph; there are nuances,
pop-ups, what-ifs, etc., and there's not enough time to mention all of
them here. What I'm talking about is skill, practice, observation,
planning, and, most of all, judgement, and apparently from some of the
attitudes I read here, there's not enough of the latter.

Making a low save away from the airport, there are not the pattern
issues mentioned. This is my field and I'll do what I want. ...Unless
there's another glider also needing to land. Most often if that's the
case, the other pilot also has some of what it takes to be a safe glider
pilot or he wouldn't be in the same situation (stretching his wings) so
I trust him and assume he trusts me not to put each other into danger.

If low at the airport and trying to make a save, I'll consider pattern
issues. Is it a small strip? A single runway? Other traffic in the
pattern or in the area? Am I positioned for opposite traffic? Do the
winds permit a safe landing from that position? Will there be room? I
could go on with what-ifs for quite some time, but I hope you get the
idea. Where I fly there are two wide runways, each approximately 7,000'
long and very little traffic. Takeoff staging is about 1,700' from the
threshold of the runway and landings routinely exit on the exceptionally
wide (500' at the narrowest) staging area behind the launch. There are
also two parallel taxiways to land on, if necessary.

So, do you call all of this thought and planning and situational
awareness bad practice? It seems to me that less experienced pilots
would be better served by seeing what is possible in unusual situations
rather than being hobbled by one simple rule for every situation. I'll
go on record stating that exercising flexibility and judgement is safer
than fixed protocol every time.

On 10/11/2015 5:05 PM, wrote:
On Sunday, October 11, 2015 at 11:09:08 AM UTC-4, Dan Marotta wrote:
I get stuck on the attitude of "giving up and heading for the
pattern". What works for me is to keep trying until I must lower
the gear, turn base, and land. There's no pattern (for me, at
least) when flying that low. Pick a a touchdown spot early, on
airport or off, and work the lift until you feel that your touchdown
spot will soon become out of reach. Maybe you'll drift to a
location where there's another safe landing spot, maybe not. The
comfort comes from developing that feeling for the glider and its
response to your input.
This is a practice that may work for you, but is anywhere from a little unsafe to really dangerous for others.
How does the guy flying a regular pattern deal with these antics?
There are many good reasons to know when to stop soaring and start landing, the top of the list being you are much less likely to crash.
Dan may make it work for him but I'm on record as saying it is bad practice and sets a terrible example.
UH





--
Dan, 5J