"Orval Fairbairn" wrote in message
news
In article ,
"Andrew B" wrote:

"J.F." wrote in message
b.com...


--
J.F.
If guys had periods. They would compare the size of their tampons!


I suggest having a search for Gimli Glider to read about some of the
problems
encountered when gliding an airliner.
There are plenty of references including :-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider

I read that the pilots managed to achieve roughly ten miles for each five
thousand feet loss of altitude in their Boeing 767-200. I have absolutely
no
idea how the A380 would compare to this but would think it would be able
to
do something fairly similar. Therefore from 35,000 feet I would not
expect
more than 65 miles at most.

Clean L/D for a jet airliner is more on the order of 20:1-25:1, NOT
10:1!

Why would they run out of fuel so far from their destination, other than
due to a gross error (see: Gimli Glider) in calculation fuel load?

Thank you for the correction Orville.

I had a niggling little doubt in the back of my mind but unfortunately took
the bit of Wiki that I read to be about right and guestimated for being less
clean and manouvering on a final approach.

According to the Wiki page in my link :-

"He used the altitude from one of the mechanical backup instruments, while
the distance traveled was supplied by the air traffic controllers in
Winnipeg, measuring the distance the aircraft's echo moved on their radar
screens. The aircraft had lost 5,000 feet (1,500 m) in 10 nautical miles (19
km; 12 mi), giving a glide ratio of approximately 12:1. "

--
Andrew B (Cheshire, England)

"Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible."
(Lord Kelvin, president Royal Society, 1895.)