Questions tagged [glide-ratio]

The ratio of the forward distance traveled to the vertical distance an aircraft descends when gliding without any power.

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What is the glide ratio of a DA42?

I was looking for the best glide speed of a DA42 with both engines out, but it seems it's not in the POH. In the emergency checklist, it only mentions a speed of 85 knots to maintain on final approach ...
Delta's user avatar
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How can we calculate the benefit gained from taping glider wing roots?

Most (all?) glider pilots will be familiar with the practice of taping wing roots. As most of the gliders in my glider club (and I would guess, in the world) are stored with the wings detached, the ...
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How can I calculate the glide time for a B737 with engine failure?

We talked today in our flight school about the following scenario: if I climb in my 737-800 to FL100 and then have a dual engine failure, how many seconds would it take me before I reach ground? I'm ...
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Can glide ratio be increased with bi-wing configuration?

We all know that increasing the wingspan of an aircraft tends to increase the glide ratio. Instead of increasing the wingspan, could an extra wing of the same size or less as in a bi-wing ...
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During an engine failure should I deploy 10° of flap or keep it clean?

Imagine I have an engine failure in cruise flight with a Cessna 152 or 172. Should I select 10° flap to increase glide angle? Would it give me more range to reach safety?
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Where can I find (or how can I calculate) the glide ratio for a PA-28-181?

I'm filling out ForeFlight's new glide slope feature, and I'm trying to find the glide ratio for a Piper Archer II (PA-28-181). I know the best glide speed is 76, but can't find the glide ratio. Any ...
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What was the Space Shuttle's glide ratio?

The Space Shuttles glided to a landing in the atmosphere after reentry. They were not good gliders, aerodynamically speaking, so their glide slope angle was rather steep. What was the glide ratio of ...
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Could a big plane glide significant distances, same a ordinary glider (1000 km or about)?

Seems that a usual glider is not limited by its glide descent rate and can fly much more than this. It uses air masses that move upward to gain the altitude. Are these effects limited by the size of ...
h22's user avatar
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How is the glide ratio affected when converting a wheeled plane to floats?

I'm looking for published data that describe the effect on glide ratio when an aircraft is converted from wheeled to float configuration. I suspect that the glide ratio goes down considerably due to ...
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Where can I find glide ratios for commercial aircraft?

I know that light aircraft have poor glide ratios (typically 1:10) compared to commercial aircraft (typically 1:20 or above). I was wondering if there is a source where one can find the glide ratio by ...
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How can planes with the same stall speed and power-to-weight ratio have such different takeoff field length, climb rate, glide ratio, etc?

I am interested in better understanding the performance differences between different planes that seem to be similar in many important ways but that differ greatly in performance. For example, take ...
Charles847's user avatar
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Does full nose up trim yield best glide in Cessna 172/152 for a given load?

I heard from a ground instructor that full nose up trim will yield best glide in a 152 and 172. As I understand best L/D, a lighter loaded plane will require a slower glide than the same craft ...
Tom's user avatar
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Is V(L/D)max equivalent to best glide speed regardless of weight, engine, height, etc.?

I've read Carson's paper on V(L/D)max, and while theoretically interesting, it does not seem to me to be useful in actually finding the V(L/D)max of an arbitrary aircraft, as it assumes knowledge of ...
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Is there a way to approximate the best glide speed for maximum glide distance in a headwind during flight? [duplicate]

Flying at an airspeed corresponding to an aircraft's maximum glide ratio in calm air will maximize the distance covered for a given altitude (AGL). But in a headwind, the horizontal velocity would be ...
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What is a mushing glide?

Source: Wolfgang Langewiesche - Stick and Rudder; An Explanation of the Art of Flying Why is it called a mushing glide? In this glide, does the aircraft point its nose less (or more?) steeply? How ...
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Could a commercial plane like Airbus A320 glide with no working engines from 11000 meters? [duplicate]

I have heard that pilots learn in simulators to fly also commercial planes without working engines, so that they glide. And still I have the impression, the chances that a plane could float from 11000 ...
V G's user avatar
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How to calculate the Glide Ratio from Drag & Lift?

I know that $c_{d}=0.03 + 0.095c_{l}^2$. What is the glide ratio?
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1 answer
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How can the glide ratio in a balanced turn be estimated?

I am trying to estimate the bank angle/turn radius required to lose a given amount of altitude during a full orbit. This has led me to trying to estimate glide ratio in proportion to $L/D_{MAX}$ of an ...
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How are the glide polar and L/D ratio charts related?

We know from other questions and answers that airplanes and gliders in particular can have their performance described in terms of glide polar and Lift-to-Drag ratio. As it appears from the images in ...
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How far can airplanes glide?

On an another question, an answer said: You don't need an engine to fly as airplanes are designed to glide without it. I suspect this heavily depends on the type of the aircraft, so lets assume we ...
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3 answers
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How does the Boeing 787 Dreamliner's glide ratio compare to other airliners?

I just saw a documentary on the design of the Boeing 787 "Dreamliner" and one of the designers said that the wings were inspired by gliders. Looking at the production version of the plane, it is ...
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