The single engine and glider options the same it is just that the "powered" pilots have a few more obstacles in their path to a successful outcome. The first is the drag of your average spam can. The next is its speed. Then the weight and lastly pilot training and accepted technique.
Let's rip into the last one's first. Power pilots generally fly too fast. Their 65 for everything is wrong. It is especially unhelpful for a forced landing. Get the speeds right and then you'll have better glide and a shorter stopping distance. Next we have the things that are not taught as standard and these include low level "S" turns and side-slips. These convenient additions to your armoury will allow you to make last minute corrections to your glide.
The poorer glide performance of a powered aircraft means that your field selection options may be limited. But like a glider, they will vary with height from straight ahead to an ever increasing arc left and right of the aircraft. I'm not that sure that all pilots know what height is required for 180. I need about 500' for a 90 degree turn and just under 1,800' for a 180 (a heavy twin). Knowing what you can do means firstly you will not waste time looking where you can't go and secondly, you might plan your climb-out so your safety is not compromised if you have an engine failure. I remember "field-hopping" on final glides. Into wind I carried very little margin but downwind about 300' so I could do a 180. But my path was by fields that had already been selected.
Lastly, low flying rules. Do they apply to flight training where the purpose of the detail was to teach forced landings? I considered that the exemption in Rule 5 3.a.ii applied. Not all approaches to land have to end in a landing.
PM
ps. It is good to see Mary posting. I remember when she first started gliding at Booker. We tooks bets on what she was going to prang next. Needless to say we all lost, but our stakes were wisely invested by the winners in a beer rental scheme.
Last edited by Piltdown Man; 11th Oct 2015 at 09:15.