Dear Burt

Streve, you said,
"I'd further assert that there are plenty of pilots who simply
shouldn't be flying in on
the brink of a stall, because they are not keenly enough attuned to the

voice of the sailplane and it's subtle ways of letting us know what it
needs
to keep us flying."

No well-trained pilot "flies in on the brink of a stall." In a
sailplane, the flair isn't initiated until the pilot is less than 10
feet above the ground. One does not approach stall speed until within
several feet of the ground, at which point ham handedness won't lead to
much more than landing with a "thud" rather than a "swish." The point
at which one chooses to flair or not to flair comes with skill and
knowledge. But forcing a glider onto the ground can lead to equally
unhappy results, usually ending in a stall and something louder than a
thud. By far, the most common landing mistake I see is forcing the
glider onto the ground, only to become airborne with the first
substantial bump, at which point things become genuinely interesting,
and usually end in a fully stalled landing. Why not just cut out the
middle man?

If a pilot is unable to manage a flair and continue it into a fully
stalled landing, the pilot is not yet competent. When he can
demonstrate the ability to do this, then he can start experimenting
with more energetic arrivals.

Crosswinds are another matter. If you'd like, start a thread on them.
There are lots of theories about this too. And plenty to question in
each of them.

I think, though, I'm being too negative . You do make a good point.
Flexibility is a desirable quality. I once had a student who simply
couldn't get his landings right, even though he was doing everything by
the book. He was a sailor. Finally, in exasperation, I said, "Bill, do
you dock your boat the same way every time? Don't you have to change
how you do things based on wind and current?" From that point on I
could never find anything criticize in his landings. He soloed several
flights later.

But flexibility depends a sound foundation of knowledge. If your
conceptual model is flawed, flexibility might hurt you. Interesting
line of thought...