What happens when you don't use airbrakes in a glider? A very long landing in a Phoenix motorglider

In this landing in a Phoenix Motorglider I was headed to the far end of a 1,700m runway, so rather than land normally in about 250m, I closed the airbrakes and let it float along in ground effect for over 40 seconds and covered 1,100m. Gliders are so efficient they definitely need the airbrakes to land!
#glider #motorglider #pureflights

[@DNModels]

Beautiful. Please up the quality of the videos. Thanx for sharing!

[@TheSaint135]

I think my heart skipped a beat. Watching it from behind you, it looks like you're never going to touch down, the glide ratio of that bird must be amazing

[@FlightsofthePhoenix]

Its rated at 30:1, but ground effect gives you a much longer run.

[@laura-ann.0726]

I've experienced this in MSFS in the DG-808. If you approach the runway at 75 knots, and don't deploy the air brake, the plane doesn't want to land. It will float along for nearly 1,000 meters before enough speed bleeds off that it will stall and settle onto the runway. The DG-808 is a pure glider, so there's no prop disc to induce some drag like the motorglider in this video has. In completely still air, the DG-808's most efficient airspeed is about 60 kts, and rate of descent is about 60 meters / minute, so you could easily consume an entire 1500 meter long runway trying to land one without using the air brake.

[@stevenpam]

Great demonstration and also a practical way to save the tyres and get where you're going more quickly and smoothly!