donaziza
Well Known Member
I'm kind of embarrassed I don't know this:. Everyother airplane I ever flew, they gave you the best glide ratio and what speed to obtain it in the event of an engine failure. So I set out to figure it out myself in my 8. I always thought 1 nautical mile was 6000'. Turns ot it's actually 6076.115 feet.
Anyway there are you guys out there who are way smarter than me. I've got XM Sat Wx on my GPS and it shows the winds. So I went out experimenting, today, by trying out simulated engine failures flying 90* to the winds ( no headwind or tailwind), throttle closed, and CS prop full decrease RPM. ( A glide ratio of say 9:1 means for every 9000' you go forward, you lose 1000' in altitude, right?--( Told you I was dumb). Lets forget the 6076. 115 Ft--let's just say 1 NM = 6000'. So if I go 2 NM or 12000' horizintally, and lose 1000' in the process, that's a 12:1 glide ratio,right??
If my thinking on how this works is correct, I found the recommended 71KIAS glide speed is a recipe for disaster. About 84 KIAS seems to give the best results--BUT-- of course the slowest speed possible at the bottom is life saving. ( I know--speed depends on weight 1518 Lbs. fully loaded for me-- but I'm just looking for some education)
HELP:
Anyway there are you guys out there who are way smarter than me. I've got XM Sat Wx on my GPS and it shows the winds. So I went out experimenting, today, by trying out simulated engine failures flying 90* to the winds ( no headwind or tailwind), throttle closed, and CS prop full decrease RPM. ( A glide ratio of say 9:1 means for every 9000' you go forward, you lose 1000' in altitude, right?--( Told you I was dumb). Lets forget the 6076. 115 Ft--let's just say 1 NM = 6000'. So if I go 2 NM or 12000' horizintally, and lose 1000' in the process, that's a 12:1 glide ratio,right??
If my thinking on how this works is correct, I found the recommended 71KIAS glide speed is a recipe for disaster. About 84 KIAS seems to give the best results--BUT-- of course the slowest speed possible at the bottom is life saving. ( I know--speed depends on weight 1518 Lbs. fully loaded for me-- but I'm just looking for some education)
HELP: