Andy hit the nail on the head: If your buds drink all your beer and
you have to buy dinner, it's a landout!

Here in Illinois where I fly, you have to try pretty hard (in a glass
ship) to land off-field; there's an airport just about every 15
miles. Which makes it fun to push just that extra mile late in the
day, knowing you can get a short aero-retrieve if you pooch your final
glide.

And, while I have no hesitation to land at a strange airport, I am
more and more reluctant to risk my ship in an off field landing during
non-contest flights - it's just too easy to keep a good airport option
open all the time (really easy with a good PDA moving map).

Of course, this does require some homework, making sure you know where
all the good landing strips/airfields are located in your area - just
because they are on a sectional or database doesn't mean they really
exist!

Contests, naturally, may require a slightly higher level of risk - but
you can't win if your ship is damaged, can you?

Kirk
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