1:60

Mr. Meragers "Letting Down Easy" (September 2007) helped remind me again of that quickly needed and often used relationship in aviation: If you travel one degree on a circle and you travel one mile, the circle has a radius of 60 miles. In other words, your distance traveled and the distance from the center of the circle has the ratio of 1:60. Remember how we used this to determine the distance we are from the NDB? Flying abeam the station, we travel one degree and note the time. The time required to fly to the NDB will be 60 times the time required to fly the single degree. Knowing our airspeed, we can compute distance from the station or, knowing the distance, our airspeed. This same "magic" ratio applies in descents, too. If you are 6000 feet (one nautical mile) from the airport, and you are 100 feet agl, you will be on a one-degree glide path (1:60). A three-degree flight path would be 300 feet agl at one nautical mile.

Key Takeaways:

• The "1:60 rule" is a fundamental aviation principle useful for calculating distance from navigation aids and for precise descent planning, such as determining a one-degree glide path.
• Applying IFR discipline and calculations, like uniform descent rates and specific airspeeds, to VFR traffic patterns can significantly enhance the precision and consistency of landings.
• The article emphasizes the critical importance of stabilized approaches, criticizing instructor fixation on a single parameter (like aim point) over overall safety and the need to heed student concerns.
• It also clarifies VFR weather minimums for Class E and G airspace, noting that basic VFR minimums apply in all Class E, and that IFR flight in uncontrolled airspace does not inherently require an ATC clearance.

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