On Thursday, May 30, 2019 at 9:41:19 AM UTC-5, Dan Marotta wrote:
Describe your first land out and tell us if you had any specific prior
training for cross country flying or for landing in an unusual place.

Dan, 5J

Wave camp at Shiflet Field, NC, maybe 30 years ago. Flying a rented Schweizer 1-23 H15. No wind, no wave, but weak thermals. My last words before closing the canopy were "No way you could get lost here. There's the lake, there's the town, there's Mt. Mitchell." Well, when I sank below ridge top height, all I could see were the tops of trees and the tops of ridges. I stayed with the valley I was in where there were plenty of landing sites. Eventually, it became obvious I was not going to climb back out so I set up my landing pattern into a 2000' long hay field. On downwind, I noticed the field was actually on the side of a hill and was fairly steeply sloped from side to side. Full divebrakes and a slip turned my base leg into a short final diagonally up the slope. Landing was uneventful... at first. Then the glider started rolling back down the hill backwards. I managed to scramble out and stop the thing before we got going too fast. The only damage was that I ruined the gliding day for a couple of my friends who had planned to fly that glider after me and who, instead, spent the afternoon retrieving me. Thanks Jeff, Keith!