Don Johnstone wrote:

OK, I agree with what you say and I suspect that if
the glider departed at 300ft I would be straight into
recovery as well. I suppose the point I am trying to
make is that departure from flight with insufficient
distance between the glider and the ground is going
to hurt whatever we do. We spend an awful lot of time
teaching spin recovery, and rightly so. We seem to
me, to spend less time emphasising the signs and symtons
of approaching stalls/spins and this I feel needs to
be put right. The cpncentration on keeping balanced
flight when near the ground indicates that the problem
has been thought about and recognised. How many glider
pilots have thought that deeply and really understand
that lighting fast recovery techniques will not help
when close to the ground? How many are able to recognise
the onset of disaster and take recovery action before
it happens? The people who have been posting on this
thread almost certainly have but what of the silent
ones?
The final turn stall/spin claims many every year. Are
we really approaching the problem in the right way?
As an aside it is not just glider pilots who get it
wrong. I recall reading an accident report of an airliner
which had taken off from Heathrow back in the 60's
or 70's. The aircraft stalled at about 3000ft and hit
the ground in a stalled condition. There were 3 qualified
ATPL pilots in the cockpit, two of them qualified as
captain on type. None of them it would appear recognised
that the airplane was stalled.
What chance have we mere mortals got if the gods get
it wrong?


I completely agree on the point that training should more
focus on early detection and correction of incipient stall/spin
than on recovery of fully developed ones. As my previous favorite
sport was windsurfing, I developed a feeling for recognizing this
situation, because in this case, if you don't react immediately,
you can't avoid falling in water on the upwind side. I had a discussion
with a German pilot who did the same and feels the same thing.
Anyway, each time before I turn to final, I recite in my mind: "Watch your
speed and symmetry, here is the place where people kill themselves",
and I think I am going to say the same thing to my students.