Perry Mick wrote:

Since an off-field landing in an EZ could be the death of me,
I've been doing this lately:

R = (cruise altitude - field elevation) * glide ratio / 6076
R = glide distance in nautical miles.
cruise altitude and field elevation in feet.

I calculate the glide distance for every airport on my route,
and draw circles on the map.  The more these circles overlap,
the better.

I recently found I can cross the Rockies up near the Canadian
border, no airports over 3000 ft. elevation and the distance
to cross is minimal.  And there are more airports up there
in northern Idaho/Montana than there are in Wyoming, where the
field elevation is typically 7000 ft, severly restricting glide
distance.
Since I'm already so far north (near Portland Oregon) it's not
that far out of the way.
--
Perry Mick
Duckt N7XR
http://www.ductedfan.com

Good idea.  I just don't fly any lower than I have to!  Used to
fly to Pueblo by just climbing to 6500 MSL and cruising.  Arrived
at pattern altitude.  BUT I was only at a few thousand AGL for
the last 1/3.  Had a partial power loss once and would have liked a bit more
glide range, altho it still put out enough power to maintain 5000 MSL
at about 85 KIAS (thanks to light airframe and low drag!).

Bill Freeman
Long EZ builder & pilot
BSME, MSME
EAA Technical Counselor

 
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