paulthornton -- stretching the glide
Yes you are right, you cannot stretch the glide by increasing AoA beyound best L/D ratio. Until you are in ground effec that is -- then it makes sense to keep increasing AoA to cash in height for speed. Induced drag is very much lower in ground effect and you can strech the glide quite a bit by such an extended flare. The continued reduction of airspeed until impact is an added positive in a forced landing.