Originally Posted by
Kefuddle
Tan is obviously slant range and Sin is actual surface distance
T'other way around, ain't it? I'm feeling kefuddled again
Yes. Phiggsbroiadband had it right the first time then was bluffed into changing his mind.
DME is a slant range distance (hypotenuse) to get the height of the opposite side you multiply the slant range by the sine of the angle.
Of course if you screw up and use the Tangent of the angle for angles around 3 degrees, the error will be about a tenth of a percent, which isn't significant in this application