Landing Out

By Rod Stuart

In January I managed to land out - twice! Both were genuine land outs and not planned. This is my experience of these landouts ~ theory vs practice. At the end is a copy of my cartoon diagram with “31 ways to tell the wind direction from the air”. I sketched this in 2015 as an aid for hang gliding instructing.

I have nearly completed my XCP and landing out twice is part of the ‘Almost There’ part of the GNZ Pilot Training Program. Luckily, I had recently read/watched the land out theory in the GNZ pilot training program. I also attended a great out landing presentation by John McCaw at the Canterbury Club winter theory evenings.

If you wish to check out the GNZ Pilot Training Program, simply go to our home page: https://gliding.co.nz/

Field Selection and Outlanding – Dual

This can be done as an intentional exercise or may occur when flying dual cross-country. Do this as many times as needed until you are confident you could do the exercise solo. Motor glider training can be an efficient way of practising this skill, where a go-around from the Aiming Point can be made without touching down.

Watch all eight video's - they are listed on this page. The first video on field selection can be opened directly here. A safety briefing is here.

Pass: Make a landing into a paddock, or alternatively onto a part of the airfield not normally used for landing, and where the available length is no greater than 400 metres. The landing area should only be selected after becoming airborne. You must perform an acceptable circuit and landing without assistance from the instructor.

Supervised Field Outlanding - Solo

Ideally, this will be done in a single-seat glider that you have some experience in flying. To keep it simple, select a field close to your launch point, and inspect it on foot first. Then launch, fly to the field and land there, ideally with your instructor watching from the ground and in radio contact. You will then supervise the de-rig into the trailer and subsequent rig back at the airfield.

Pass: Complete the exercise as described above, with a proper circuit, a sensible height over the threshold, and a smooth touchdown and ground roll.

Landout 1: A paddock along Shortcut Road. The day was shutting down and I was getting drilled at the entrance to the Ahuriri Valley. See You Navigator indicated 16:1 to get home. I set off with my true glide angle indicating 10:1 with a 20knot tail wind. It looked quite doable. From 6000’ to landing I got nothing but sink! Luckily, I did remember landing my hang glider in this paddock a few years earlier. I applied the 3:2:1 rule where at 3000’ you have a landing in mind and keep looking for lift. At 2000’ you commit to a landing paddock and keep looking for lift. At 1000’ you set up your circuit, do your landing checks and land into wind. I made a perfect landing into a 15knt westerly wind. Thank you Marney, Steve C and Griz for the retrieve.

Landout 2: A paddock beside the Maitland Strip. I was chasing a blue duck and failed to establish on the Ben Ohau Range in light southerly conditions. Quite early on I made the decision that the Maitland Strip would be my best landing option if I failed to get lift. The landing strip looked skinny with a road on one side and tussocks on the other. I decided the freshly cut grass in the paddock beside the strip looked far more inviting. This was a good choice, and I made a perfect landing into a light south wind. Thank you, Malcolm and Terry J, for the retrieve. Note: We did need to get a key for the gate from Lake Ohau Station a few kms back.

Summary:

When your brain is operating at 110% landout theory flashes fast through your mind. I ran through the seven S’s (Size, Shape, Slope, Surface, Surroundings, Stock and Sun). But I had another 300 S’s to consider ~ Sheep! A large flock of Merinos were grazing in the same huge paddock about 500m from me. Thankfully they looked up, walked a few meters further away and carried on grazing. The 3:2:1 rule is a keeper and worked perfectly for me twice. By far the most important things are, checking wind direction, dropping the wheel and lining up for a smooth landing into wind. In both landings my See You Navigator phone app had the wind direction and speed bang on. There were also many other wind indicators visible from my cockpit. Check out my 31 ways to tell the wind direction from the Air sketches below.