Getting Near the End

Prepare for Landing on Final Glide

As you approach your finish use the last 15 km or so to police up the cockpit for landing and get relief systems, oxygen tubing, and other stuff out of the way of the flap, spoilers and landing gear handles. Drink the rest of your water or sports drink, have a bite of something to eat and go through your checklist early - you have probably been flying a long time and will be tired and maybe a little dehydrated. Double-check your radio frequency. If you are still carrying ballast start dumping about 5 -8 minutes before landing - even if you know your system needs less time, as this gives you time to detect and work through any dump problems. Continue to monitor your speed against the altitude needed display on your computer.  It’s easy to let the speed creep up as you get closer to the finish and inattention to airspeed can get you badly under glide at the end. If you are tired adjust to make things easy on yourself.

Late Day Shadows

Very late in the day, don’t be surprised if terrain that is usually familiar to you looks very different: you are seeing the effect of shadows from the air that you have not seen before. Consider your landing direction and whether it will be into the setting sun. You may need to put sunglasses back on or open the vent window to see better on final approach. An unplanned landing into a setting sun can be a very difficult surprise at the end of a long day.

Staying Warm

Another thing that is helpful to plan for at the end of the day (especially in the springtime) is that it gets pretty cold on a high glide with the sun low behind you for an extended period of time. Even if it is reasonably warm on the ground you may wish to have a light jacket handy in the cockpit that you can pull on over your arms and chest to stay warm during extended periods out of the sunlight. I know one pilot who changes his socks to a fresh dry pair just before getting into the cockpit for a springtime flight because it keeps his feet warmer. I hope this has been helpful and encourages you to use the full day for your flights.

Banner photo by Jason Leonard

 Roy Bourgeois is a well-known US and South African glider pilot who serves as the Chief Pilot for the Greater Boston Soaring Club. He has held several US national records, competed in many US and Canadian Nationals, and has flown over a quarter million XC kilometers in his 4200 hours of gliding. He can be reached at royb@bw.legal