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HomeHomeDiscussionsDiscussionsiFly Wish-ListiFly Wish-ListOption for magenta course line to also show hypothetical glide range  to each sideOption for magenta course line to also show hypothetical glide range to each side
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8/10/2017 1:51 PM
 

Mike, I suspect he's asking for somehting identical to the feature recently added to ForeFlight., which is the optional  "distorted circle depending on wind and terrain that would always keep you apprised of what your current predicted gliding distance is" you describe. 

 
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8/10/2017 2:00 PM
 

What I envision he is suggesting is you have your planned course line from point A to point B.  You also have your planned altitude and the winds aloft at that altitude.  Using your airplanes specified glide ratio, altitude, and winds aloft, iFly would draw two lines parallel to your planned course, one on each side of your planned course, and impart a colored shading to the area between the parallel lines.  This shaded area would be your gliding distance as you fly along your course.  The downwind line would be farther away from your course line than the upwind line.  Also, as terrain rises, the lines would converge closer to your course line.  Seems like a pretty neat idea to me.

You could use this feature for flight planning purposes to drag you planned course line so that more airports are within the shaded area between the parallel "glide distance" lines.  During actual flight, if you didn't feel good about having no airports within the shaded area, you could drag your course line one way or the other to encompass more airports.  The falicy I see with this is the gliding distance would only be accurate when you are exactly opposite an airport as you pass by.

 
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8/10/2017 3:00 PM
 
Tim Taylor wrote:

What I envision he is suggesting is you have your planned course line from point A to point B.  You also have your planned altitude and the winds aloft at that altitude.  Using your airplanes specified glide ratio, altitude, and winds aloft, iFly would draw two lines parallel to your planned course, one on each side of your planned course, and impart a colored shading to the area between the parallel lines.  This shaded area would be your gliding distance as you fly along your course.  The downwind line would be farther away from your course line than the upwind line.  Also, as terrain rises, the lines would converge closer to your course line.  Seems like a pretty neat idea to me.

 

I guess it depends if its for planning purposes or in flight.  But why two lines parallel? What about behind and in front of you? And what about terrain making the ratio different. To really be useful in flight it's going to be an irregular circle. This is a sample of one that used in flight, changes as you fly along and takes into consideration altitude, terrain and winds looks like:

 

 

 

 

 
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8/10/2017 3:07 PM
 

That's a different thing, not what the OP is talking about.

 
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8/10/2017 3:33 PM
 
Tim Taylor wrote:

That's a different thing, not what the OP is talking about.

 

I don't think we know, which is why Mike asked. Yes, maybe the OP is asking about a pure planning tool to help select a route, using forecast winds and disragarding terrain . Or maybe he's asking about somehting that can be used in flight in case of an emergency to gague chances of success based on conditions where the airplane is at the time. Yes, what one would want would be different depending.

 

 
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HomeHomeDiscussionsDiscussionsiFly Wish-ListiFly Wish-ListOption for magenta course line to also show hypothetical glide range  to each sideOption for magenta course line to also show hypothetical glide range to each side