303pilot wrote:

Aren't powered pilots required to fly at an altitude sufficient to offer a
landing option should they lose power? Isn't that just their plan B?

I don't know the regulations of your country. But I guess it depends
what you mean by "landing option".

When flying gliders, outlanding is part of the game. I always am inside
a cone of a landing field on which I can land without damaging the
glider. (Of course, there's always a risk.) This is how I've learnt it,
and it makes outlanding is a complete non event. Very easy to achieve on
flat land, not so easy in the mountains. When soaring in the mountains,
I have a catalog with the known outlanding fields with me and plan
accordingly.

On the other hand, when flying with one of those a fuel to noise
converters in the nose, all I'm looking for is to stay within gliding
distance of a landing spot which allows for a survivable landing.
Sometimes this would be better called a crash field. Otherwise, flying
in the mountains with a single engine aircraft would often not be possible.

I think this makes a difference.

Stefan