How Low to Spin??

With the big spoilers on modern gliders, there's not much risk in
adding 10 extra knots, and while your argument that it adds an
increased cushion before stall is unarguable, I guess the measure of
value comes in whether that reduced risk is a justified departure from
the "correct" pattern airspeed. I'm with Mark... it deserves some more
discussion.

BTW, as I noted in another thread, spins are not caused by lack of
airspeed, but uncoordinated use of the controls -- at least in modern
sailplanes. Two things must happen to enter a spin: 1) you must
stall, and 2) you must fail to apply sufficient rudder during your
attempt to pick up the low wing with aileron. That is, the sailplane
is designed with enough rudder to stop autorotation, even with full
deflection of the aileron throughout the stall break.

As demonstrated by my thread last fall, a Ventus 2 won't spin if the
controls remain coordinated (half stick/half rudder... full
stick/rudder). It enters a controlable spiral, instead. However, half
rudder and full stick (or half stick and no rudder) would induce a
spin if the stick is held full back throughout the stall break.

Avoiding the stall is the first most important step, but thorough
training of the appropriate response during an inadvertent stall is a
close, close second. And I could even argue that it's more important,
since once you've stalled by accident, the outcome is determined by
how well you've been trained to recover (that is, it becomes the
failsafe for your stall avoidance error).

Though I'm not a fan of axiomatic training, there's some value in
remembering that you can stall at any attitude and any speed. If you
wear that axiom on your sleeve, then you'd be best served by
understanding and practicing superlative stall recovery technique in
addition to practicing stall avoidance.

That so many capable pilots have stall/spun in relatively docile
aircraft indicates to me that there is a training gap. We are clearly
handling the controls diffently at low altitudes. Why? If we can agree
that this is the case, then adding speed is good insurance. But it
doesn't address the cause.

Andy, apologies for being the pedant. I'm spitting this stuff out at
60 words per minute, so I'm not giving much thought to "balance."