4 u space-cadettes out there, one more figure, for the gipper ...
Air Transat 236's last 31 minutes just as the 2 engines were starving for fuel.
He did very good stable gliding at the beginning and on final to the runway !!
What I was mainly interested in was the Glide Ratio which is rarely ever mentioned. In this case it was 24 which is very good/high (but i was expecting 17). A well designed glider-plane will do 40 - 50 (or 40 miles distance whilst losing only 1 mile in altitude). From 10000ft you could glide 100 miles without any power on these professional gliders. For a Boeing or Airbus it could glide 100 miles from an altitude of 20000 feet without power !!
He seemed to have glided at approx 250 knots ground speed (nautical miles per hour) (or 200 knots indicated airspeed). So next time you have to glide-in your Boeing or Airbus make sure you keep that airspeed of 200 knots on the instrument !!! Too fast or too slow and you lose more altitude !!!!!
Glossary:
min: minutes
nm: nautical miles
FL: Flight Level (almost exactly same as altitude)
Speed: speed towards radar on island
Descent: vertical speed in feet per minute
Glide Ratio: Forward speed divided by downward speed
