Originally Posted by
Blackfriar
It might be better for everyone's flying if a bit of gliding was part of basic training. Every landing is a "forced" landing whether into the airfield or a farmer's field. I'm talking real gliders and not piston engined aircraft with long wings.
There is a fundamental difference between 'real gliders' and an aeroplane like a Hawk; glide angle (L/D ratio). You are acclimatised to a shallow glide angle plus spoilers to increase the angle on finals if you need to. When you have a much steeper glide angle, and for some types with gear and flaps down it is around 10 degrees, and no spoiler option to increase it if you need to, the required judgement is much different. Yes, you can sideslip some aircraft but it doesn't work in the Hawk. Your TAS is much higher and minimum turn radius much greater in a Hawk so if you realise that your sightline is too low then you have few options for varying ground track to correct it.
However, I am sure that few would turn down the opportunity to go gliding but I am not convinced it would really help judgement in higher drag aircraft.