Managing your remaining energy for the no-go-around arrival—so you can walk away.

By Dave Higdon

Takeoffs, as a friend and CFI likes to inform her students, are optional. Landings, however, are mandatory. Within the soaring community, the line was "Get one free landing with every takeoff!" And therein is the most sobering aspect of facing a power-off landing: the reality the old stand-by go-around option we enjoy for other situations is eliminated. So while making all the usual efforts to restart an engine after it stops, the savvy pilot must simultaneously make a quick assessment of available options—and adjust to flying the aircraft as a glider. …