Glide range with wind
How far you can glide from a height with your aircraft's glide ratio, in still air and with a headwind or tailwind.
Planning and education aid. Not for primary navigation. Full disclaimer
Experimental: not yet fully verified. How results are checked
You can glide about 5.29 NM with this wind, or 7.41 NM in still air, for 6.3 min.
- Range with wind
- Glide angle
- Sink rate
- Time aloft
Provenance
- Computed by
- aviation.performance.glide 1.0.0, core 0.1.0
- Model
- Steady glide at the given glide ratio, with TAS taken as the horizontal airspeed (under 1% error for glide ratios of 7 or more) and a steady along-track wind; the ring is 72 points at 5° steps of the geodesic direct problem (Karney 2013), each at that bearing's range with the wind component along it
- Accuracy
- Exact for the model. Real glides lose height in turns and with a windmilling propeller. Planning aid, not certified for navigation.
- Notes
- 1 shown with the answer
- Cites
- Federal Aviation Administration, Airplane Flying Handbook, FAA-H-8083-3C; Federal Aviation Administration, Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, FAA-H-8083-25C
Something look off?
How we got thisFormula, worked example, sources, and proof
Model: Steady glide at the given glide ratio, with TAS taken as the horizontal airspeed (under 1% error for glide ratios of 7 or more) and a steady along-track wind; the ring is 72 points at 5° steps of the geodesic direct problem (Karney 2013), each at that bearing's range with the wind component along it
Accuracy: Exact for the model. Real glides lose height in turns and with a windmilling propeller. Planning aid, not certified for navigation.
Worked example: 5,000 ft AGL, 9:1, 70 kt, into a 20 kt headwind. Source: add-aviation-suite glide scenario: still air 7.41 NM, headwind 5.29 NM. It is golden test vector v001, and every build checks the tool still gives its answer within its tolerance.
You enter
- Glide ratio
- 9
- Headwind
- 20 kt
- Height above terrain
- 5000 ft
- True airspeed
- 70 kt
You get
- Still-air range
- 7.41 NM
- Range with wind
- 5.29 NM
- Glide angle
- 6.34°
- Sink rate
- 788 ft/min
- Time aloft
- 6.3 min
Review: Not yet independently reviewed by a flight instructor (CFI).
Last verified: 2026-09-18, when a maintainer last confirmed this tool's sources at the issuer. See the sources ledger.
Status: version 1.0.0, core 0.1.0. See this tool in the verification report.
Checked against: 5 golden test vectors (download the test vectors, each with its source and tolerance). See how results are checked and every source.
Sources
- Airplane Flying Handbook, FAA-H-8083-3C, Federal Aviation Administration, FAA-H-8083-3C. Chapter 3 (turns and load factor), Chapter 6 (ground reference maneuvers, pivotal altitude), and Chapter 18 (emergency glides).
- Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, FAA-H-8083-25C, Federal Aviation Administration, FAA-H-8083-25C. Aircraft Performance and Navigation chapters (pressure and density altitude, wind triangle).
Terms
- POH: Pilot's Operating Handbook
- The manufacturer's handbook for an aircraft: limitations, procedures, performance charts, and weight-and-balance data. Its numbers govern over any calculator. Source: Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge
- TAS: true airspeed
- The aircraft's speed through the air mass. At altitude, where the air is thinner, it is higher than calibrated airspeed. Source: Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge
Experimental means this tool has not yet met the stable bar: at least 20 golden vectors, differential tests, and an independent worked example.