Airnav lists the runway length at 2100'. The Terraserver image from
1998 shows it is about 2300'-2400' from the trees at one end to the
trees at the other end. I've never been there, but the lengths and
images suggest a field with very small margins for error.

Being able to loose enough energy to be slow and midfield at 50 feet
sounds like he achieved his goal all too well. 1000 feet to land
from 50 feet sounds tight but doable especially if you're already
slow and need to speed up to do a proper flare. The thing I figured
is that it would *look* tight and maybe impossible especially if the
drill at that field is to land on the numbers (I don't know this). I
do know I've never been drilled with "Fly over most of the runway and
stop with the nose at the far end of the runway." If this was the
situation he was in, I could see how it ended badly.

In the situation described above, I think the only option left is full
spoiler, dive steeply and put it on the ground as soon as possible, then
use full wheel brake and full forward stick. If that didn't stop the
glider in time, aiming between the trees as they approach might avoid
serious injury, as likely the speed would be slow by the time of collsion.

I'm not sure I would think of this if I were in that situation, as the
ground would seem to be going by rapidly with the tailwind, and the
trees would likely look very threatening.

I once landed my DG-400 (1,000 lbs gross) on a 1,200 ft runway,
stopping a little more than halfway. I wanted to clear a stand pipe on
one side of the runway, so I gave up about 200 ft. This means I really
used about 500 ft to stop. This was a real life situation-not a
simulated one. This guy, flying a lighter glider than mine, should
have been able to get down from 50 ft and be fully stopped with 1,000
ft of runway he had left. In any case, going off the end of the runway
at low speed sure as hell beats going in vertical. S turning at 50 ft
is highly unadvisable.

Tom Seim
Richland, WA