At 08:24 05 February 2004, Pete Zeugma wrote:
At 02:42 05 February 2004, Isoar wrote:
I can't find anything in my books about how to make
a 90 degree turn
(e.g., downwind to base) while in a full slip,

Funny that, but then you should take a massive pinch
of salt when you read posts about making you turns
with the rudder. If you need to side slip at all during
your downwind, base and final, best do it on the straight
parts and use proper coordinated well banked turns
between. The one thing you should always avoid getting
into is turning with excessive amounts of rudder. Why?
This is where spins develop from, because in the event
of you stalling, the likelyhood of you surviving when
low, as you would be on your base turn, or final turn
are very slim. Get into the habit of flying turns in
a coordinated manner right from the start, at all times.

Couldn't agree more!
What must be remembered about these sort of discussions
is there is a significant difference between 'what
can be done' and 'what should be done'
Having to use slipping to this extent to get rid of
excess height can only be the result of a very poorly
planned circuit (very tight ridge sites excepted).
Slipping can be useful to get in to a small field off
site but even then should only be required on finals.
It is far better to plan, execute, monitor and adjust
your circuit all the way round than have to take this
sort of corrective measure. Once you are in this situation
then you have severly limited your options which is
never a good idea in a glider.

Dave H