Are You Ashamed to Land Out?

Thanks for all the responses guys. While in agreement with most all that has been said, I have a slightly different take on the issue of landing out.

First off let me say that I don’t consider landing at a developed airport “landing out�. Thats just parking her at another confirmed safe place. For me, landing out is having to put her down in a field, unused undeveloped airstrip or dirt road ect.

With that being said I operate under a philosophy which when simplified is this: iOccasional out landing is essential to develop and measure my soaring skills. If I do not find myself missing my goal occasionaly, I am not really stretching and placing myself in situations where I test my skills. Now I am not talking about stretching into unlamdable terrain in the “hope� that my skills will save me. I am talking about pushing early in the day, or late in the day when conditions are weak or weakening and stretching for that extra 5 miles or flying faster than normal on a strong day, working the lift band in a more compressed selection. Or stretching to test a hunch regarding the condx in that apparent blue hole. Either of the three examples can lead to having to make a save and a higher potential for landing out.

I have found that my soaring skills do not advance and actually diminish when I find myself just cruising sedately along that well established street, doing that old routine home field triangle or out n return. But the times I have deliberately pushed or explored are the times I have learned lessons and advanced my abilities.
Dan

Jean-Claude Killy, a French Olympic triple Gold Medalist in skiing (1968) said that if you never take a fall, you never learn. Gotta push sometimes.

It's not the first landout of the day that is embarassing - it's the second one - especially during a contest!

One of my first contest flights, in a G-102 out of Estrella. Task was basically Estrella to Ryan and back. Pedalling hard to stay with the pack, got low on the way out and dropped into El Tiro, which was conveniently on the way to the turnpoint and even better, could give me a tow to get home. Off tow, spotted the pack heading home and pedalled off after them. Halfway back, here comes a solid status deck from the West. Near Casa Grande, we got to the shadow, and all but a couple of leaders (who had a final glide to Estrella) landed out within minutes of each other. I ended up in a wheat field (in preference to an active shooting range - seriously!), which led to a long, late "carry the glider out of the field at midnight" retrieve by my then future wife...good sign that! No damage done, but we picked wheat out of that glider for a long time after - and it took awhile to pass the club's "Lead C" award to someone else.

I still enjoy a nice landout - but now I really try hard to keep them to airfields...which is easy where I fly now in Illinois.

Of course, that does set you up for some interesting aero retrieves, say at night flying on tow by the light of your iPhone...but that's a different story...

66

I was hoping you would post that Kirk, I dont think any of us, back in the day at Turf, would have been ashamed of our landouts. In fact they are the best of times! Still, I perfer the cold brew and company back at home airfield not to mention the convenience of not having to reassemble for the next days flying 😛

So there were two nuts that evening?

What tow pilot was nuts enough to tow you up into a flight that would knowingly be so late that you had to fly by the light of your phone?