On 5/26/2020 5:19 AM, Charles Ethridge wrote:
On Monday, May 25, 2020 at 11:52:53 PM UTC-4, John Cochrane wrote:
This is an interesting post. Where are you flying from that you seem to
be totally alone? I've flown from many operations, all with an active
cross country community. In any such operation, there is a vast amount of
local experience with the nearby private airports. Most of the laudable
ones will have been landed at. The unfriendly farmers will be known.

If you're trying to fly XC all alone in a PW5, I might suggest first of
all moving to an operation where there is a good base of active cross
country pilots. They will help you out with far more than just knowing
which airports and fields are good to land at. If you are already at an
active operation, for heaven's sake go talk to the experienced pilots and
get the local briefing!

John Cochrane BB

Tbanks.

I learned to fly gliders in Miami FL, where the is effectively no cross
country due to the terrain (or lack of it :-)). After I got good enough to
stay up thermaling for several hours at a time, I decided it was time to
move the glider to a place where I could learn to fly cross country, so I
moved it to Atlanta. Unfortunately, the coronavirus hit and all the clubs
are effectively closed to me while I'm sheltering-in-place.

From reading soaring books and articles such as Kai Gersten's "Off-Airport
Landings", I always just assumed that you could never RELY on local
knowledge and that there is a good probability that one day you will need
to simply pick a field or private airport, especially on long cross
countries, or cross countries where bad weather has caused you to deviate
far from the task line.

Ben

Much experience-based sensible advice in this thread already, but - since no
one has yet mentioned "the obvious" - keep in mind that no matter how thorough
one's preparation for XC and off-field landings, Murphy is a powerful guy,
capable of throwing a wrench in the works at any time.

Point being Joe XC Glider Pilot should ALWAYS be prepared to assess, select
and land on a field he's had no chance to pre-review from the ground. (I
imagine you are, but "stuff can happen" on any XC flight and "airfield to
airfield preparation" may not always be in your cards.

Have fun!

Bob W.

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