Originally Posted by
Russell Gulch
Legally that's probably right.
Practically, it's not. In a 30 kt headwind with a 60kt best glide speed, where are you going to land?
Absolutely! I suspect there is no simple answer to this, but that the "best speed to fly" is somewhere between speed for min rate of decsent (to maximise time in the air if you are already over landable terrain, which might be with a small amount of flap) and the speed for best glide (to maximise range (which will depend on relative wind speed and direction). A headwind is very useful for the landing itself but will certainly steepen your glide path and limit how far ahead you can reach. Provided you have enough height, and you know that the terrain downwind is generally landable it might be best to fly downwind close to speed for min sink to maximise ground coverage to select the best landing spot (bonus: this also places you nicely on a downwind leg for your "circuit"). Conversely if there is a runway straight ahead into wind which you think you can reach (given the headwind) then flying
above the manual's quoted best still air glide speed will increase the gliding range.
The above is very much the personal view of a glider pilot, and whilst I used to also have a PPL was fortunate to never have an actual engine failure- but that is how I would have handled one!