WingFlaps schrieb:

(the stall is now damn close -better
hope there's no significant wind)
....
Now we add in the energy losses from having to
accelerate with the wind and to glide speed.

Arrrgh! Not the old "turn into downwind" legend again! Better work out
your understanding of physics before publicly reasoning about turns.

There is nearly always somewhere flat to put the plane

The operative word in this sentence is "nearly".