A glider with a lift/drag ratio of 23:1 will sink about how many feet over 10 nautical miles?

• A. 2,400 feet
• B. 2,600 feet
• C. 2,800 feet
• D. 3,000 feet

Answer: (B)

Glide ratio tells you how far you can go forward for each foot you descend. An L/D of 23:1 means you travel 23 feet horizontally for every 1 foot of altitude lost. To find the descent over 10 nautical miles, convert distance to feet: 1 NM = 6,076 ft, so 10 NM = 60,760 ft. The vertical drop is 60,760 ÷ 23 ≈ 2,642 ft, which is about 2,600 ft. So the glider would sink roughly 2,600 feet over 10 NM. Quick checks: 2,400 ft would require about 55,200 ft of forward travel (≈9.1 NM), 2,800 ft would be about 64,400 ft (≈10.6 NM), and 3,000 ft would be about 69,000 ft (≈11.3 NM). The computed value aligns with the 2,600 ft estimate.