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HomeHomeDiscussionsDiscussionsiFly Wish-ListiFly Wish-ListGlide Distance CircleGlide Distance Circle
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2/16/2012 9:04 PM
 

The nav programs gliders use display either an altitude needed to reach a selcted waypoint or an area you can glide to from your present altitude and both compute allowing for the wind and glider polar. The pilot inputs the polar when setting up the program and the program somehow figures wind and terrain from the GPS and it is displayed on the PDA. They don't take into account rising and decending air otherwise they are quite accurate.

 
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2/22/2012 11:33 AM
 

Just some thoughts..

Most glider software does factor in wind however (calculated from drift while thermalling/circling). I agree they are pretty accurate..

However, in a power plane I'm happy with just having a rough (and conservative) number in my head of 'x miles per x thousand feet' and using that with the existing distance iFly distance circles.

No wind.. fly best glide speed, tailwind slow down a bit and expect a little better distance, head wind speed up a little and expect a little worse. I would not be comfortable with flying a final glide based upon gps calculator since (i) unlike in my glider I haven't worked up to it and tested/gained comfort in it's accuracy, (ii) I'm going to quit trying at a much higher alititude and pick a field before it picks itself for me.

 
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3/17/2012 6:44 PM
 

I second this idea.. I have it on one of my GPS's and it is cool. Another neat feature is that I can set a circle to see where I will be at traffic pattern altitude with my current descent rate. It is great for descending from several miles out...

 
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HomeHomeDiscussionsDiscussionsiFly Wish-ListiFly Wish-ListGlide Distance CircleGlide Distance Circle