"The first rule of flying a glider is: "Never come up short"."
Going by the number of times glider pilots head out to a random field to load up a glider in a trailer; I'd say that rule is nowhere near the first rule.
First rule is probably the same for any aircraft (wind, which way and how fast), or maybe where's the lift at?
For landing, again it's the same as any other aircraft (Am I coming in too fast?, or is the runway clear?).
The article context is the X-plane flight simulator.