My first thought is "Of course people are ashamed (freightened may be a better word) to land out." ... at least the first time. It is fear of the unknown. What will people think of me? Will I break something? Will I get hurt? I think everyone has felt this at one time or another. No one LIKpES to land out.

Letting go of the wind sock is a difficult mental hurdle. Get home-i-tis sets in. Landing out is, at the very least, an inconvenience be it a metal & difficult to take apart glider or modern glass one that is easy to do.

What is the solution? Of course we don't purposely train by actually landing out in a field somewhere. The alternative is to mandate spotting with the help of CFIGs good fields from the air and making it seem "normal" to landout. Read the books available! Simulation via Condor?

This training and mental hurdle can be difficult/scary in some regions (mountains, forested, etc) as compared to here in the flat Midwest where just about everywhere is landable.


Bottom line NOTHING is as good training as the reality. And that is a leap of faith sitting alone beyond final glide and getting low.