Mitty wrote:
I am learning to fly a Blanik L-23 and my instructor is telling me to
"fly it on" with no flare.

In a discussion at Owl Canyon Gliderport (Colorado), I stated that I
expect a pilot to fly a stabilized approach to the round out,
and then fly in level attitude, and push off "a little" (to me means
"about an inch") of spoiler, to stop the sink, in order to settle to
the ground in level flight attitude and not land tail first, nor
land in "two point" attitude.
Yes, the above states that I expect a small spoiler adjustment
near the ground.

My written reference sources a
The "Joy of Soaring", (1969 version), on page 47,
says to fly level (parallel) to the ground, "round out":

"..., the pilot smoothly rounds out the glide so that the flight
path becomes parallel to the ground at an altitude of a foot or
two."

The "Joy of Soaring", (1969 version), on page 47,
says to adjust the spoilers near the ground:

".... he (the pilot) regulates deceleration with the spoilers,
closing them to extend the float, and opening them wider to shorten
it."


In the "American Soaring Handbook", Book 2: Training, paragraph 7c4,
page 40 states:

"Unless a sailplane is to be landed in a minimum distance, it is
best to land it at a speed above stall by rolling the wheel on he
runway and holding it down in a manner similar to the procedure for
a wheel landing in a light-plane. ... it is important ... to apply
a slight forward force on the wheel or stick to prevent ballooning."

Further, in the "American Soaring Handbook", Book 2: Training,
paragraph 8e4, page 66 states:

"In making a landing, the student should be taught to hold a nearly
constant air speed on the final approach until within about 25 feet
of the ground. At this point the nose is gradually raised by
constant back pressure on the stick to produce a level-off at about
six inches above the ground. If one tries to maintain an altitude
of six inches without pulling the stick all the way back, the main
wheel will eventually touch the ground. When this happens, the
student should be taught to ease forward on the stick with just
enough force to hold the wheel on the ground ... as the airspeed
decreases the stick should be gradually brought to the full aft
position to hold the tail down without having the sailplane take to
the air".

Please note that I teach a stabilized approach, with constant
airspeed, to round out, and I do not teach a flare. I believe that
airplanes are flared to a landing to arrive in a nose up attitude at
stall, while gliders are flown onto the ground above stall, in level
flight attitude, and landed on the main wheel only. "Pushing off a
little spoiler during the round out will slow the descent rate, and is
intended to result in a roll-it-on landing."

Note that as a pilot progresses to higher performance ships,
(33:1 L/D), there is less (to NO) need to reduce the spoilers.

Of course, spelling errors are mine.

Is my explanation sufficient, or would something be better explained
differently?

Best regards,

Jer/ "Flight instruction and mountain flying are my vocations!"
--
Jer/ (Slash) Eberhard, Mountain Flying Aviation, LTD, Ft Collins, CO
CELL 970 231-6325 EMAIL jeratfrii.com http://users.frii.com/jer/
C-206 N9513G, CFII Airplane&Glider FAA-DEN Aviation Safety Counselor
CAP-CO Mission&Aircraft CheckPilot BM218 HAM N0FZD 240 Young Eagles!