Glide distance calculator
How far you can reach with the engine out, and how honest that number is.
How it works
Still-air distance = height AGL × glide ratio ÷ 6,076. Wind is applied by scaling for the change in groundspeed at best glide speed.
Read this number sceptically
It assumes you are already at best glide speed, the propeller is stopped or feathered, the aircraft is clean, you are turning nothing, and the ground below is level. Every one of those is optimistic in a real engine failure. A windmilling propeller alone can cost a substantial fraction of the glide ratio.
It also assumes you start gliding immediately. The seconds spent recognising the failure and lowering the nose are paid for in height, and they are the most expensive seconds of the flight.
Use it for planning, not for stretching
The right use is on the ground: deciding what altitude keeps a landable field within reach on a given route. The wrong use is in the air, trying to reach a field the number says is just barely attainable.
Other calculators
- Density altitude calculator
- Pressure altitude calculator
- True airspeed calculator
- Crosswind component calculator
- Wind correction angle and groundspeed calculator
- Cloud base calculator
- Top of descent calculator
- Climb gradient calculator
- Time, speed and distance calculator
- Aviation unit converter
For planning and study, not for operational use. Aircraft performance comes from your POH, not from a generic formula.