Polar with spoilers extended?

On Oct 22, 11:30 am, BB wrote:
Others have suggested
increasing speed to increase drag. I am not a big fan of this
technique because I feel it minimizes options for the pilot and is
susceptible to pilot error that can end up in over shooting the LZ.

I didn't think so either until Marty Eiler at Cal City demonstrated it
for me as part of a BFR. Practiced, and properly done, it can produce
an unbelievably steep angle from decision point to stopping point. Yes
you have to point the nose at the ground and look temporarily like
you'll undershoot. Definitely not for beginners, but not a maneuver to
be dismissed either.

A suggestion: I bought a copy of the condor flight simulator a while
ago, in part to explore on the ground how things like this work out.
It does let you practice and explore limits of glider abilities. You
can find out, for example, exactly how much altitude a 360 will take
in various configurations, or how much altitude you really need for a
180 back to the airport.

John Cochrane

Doing these tests in the actual glider (at high altitude) with a data
logger will produce reliable numbers. The simulator might or might
not reproduce the performance accurately enough.

Todd Smith
3S