Soaring Safety Foundation Landing Workshop

The SSF sponsors Flight Instruction Refresher Clinics around the country on an as needed bases. A major goal of these clinics is to introduce the CFIG to new teaching and training activites. In the 2001 and 2002 FIRC we presented one such teaching activity, an interactive landing workshop.

The goal of this workshop was to engage the FIRC participants in a role playing activity suitable for class-room instruction. Eight different aircraft, gliders and towplanes, are engaged in normal flight operations. Eight different scenario's were written that describe the last 2:30 minutes of each flight. The result is that all 8 aircraft are going to try and land on the same runway at the same time. The students need to figure out how this will be accomplished.

To run this workshop, we recommend the following:

  1. Print off enough copies of each scenario so every student has a copy to read. The classroom instructor will find the instructor page useful as it contains a summary of all the actions to be taken by each aircraft. It is also recommended that you use multi-colored paper to make it easier to keep track of everything
  2. Provide the students with a blank piece of (colored) paper and have them fold it into a paper airplane.
  3. Next setup the 'runway' and the surronding area as described in the handouts. The 'runway' should be a table of other suitable area marked out on the floor.
  4. Then place the 'pilots' in their starting points. Each secnario describes the initial setup and the starting position for all aircraft. Have the students physically take the relative position described in the handout.
  5. The instructor is then ready to begin. This can then be a free-for-all or the instructor can keep track of the time. One way is to jump in descrete 'time steps' where all the students advance 30 seconds in time and take their new positions. The instructor can then poll each student to see if they are going to continue on as the handout describes or if they want to deivate and generate a new plan.
  6. Once the time has expired the classroom instructor can re-convine the class and lead a discussion on what happened and what options each 'pilot' had. Some questions include: did anyone make a 'radio' call and who heard it?, Who landed where, when did it become obvious that the written plan needed to be modified if a successful outcome was to be achieved?. Feel free to add your own.

Each of the secnarios are available by following these links. Each one starts with the same introductory paragraph. They then provide a modivation that will cause the 'pilot' to attempt to land in the next 2.5 minutes. New secnarios are welcome as are reviews of the ones presented here. Have fun, and fly safe.


The idea for this workshop, and the scenario's presente here, was originally created by Richard Carlson. The information contained in these pages has been donated to the SSF and may be freely used by the soaring community. Please inform the SSF if you find this workshop useful.


Page created 9/17/04