Best Glide Speeds

Perhaps we should cut right to the life-saving takeaway: If youre engine-out in a typical single and gliding into a headwind of 15 knots or more, pitching down to at least 10 knots over published best glide speed will probably extend your glide range. This is true down to short final. Holding best glide into a headwind on short final and see you clearly wont make it? Pitch down and see if that improves things. Just remember to slow back to your normal procedures for the actual landing, using or shedding those extra knots as necessary.

Key Takeaways:

• When engine-out into a headwind of 15 knots or more, pitching down to glide at least 10 knots above published best glide speed will likely extend your range.
• This counter-intuitive "Speed to Fly" principle, borrowed from glider pilots, prioritizes groundspeed to maximize horizontal distance over the ground, even with a slightly increased descent rate.
• An informal study in a Cirrus SR22 indicated that gliding 15 knots faster into a 30-knot headwind could increase effective glide range by approximately 20%.
• Pilots should also practice techniques like the "GPS-180-to-Land" to effectively manage excess altitude and arrive at a safe key position during engine-out emergencies.

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