Hey! Grayhawk1! "Direct To" for cruise? Not this old fart! My GPS IFR routes are "I Follow Roads"! From Santa Maria, CA going to Carson City: N on 5 then R on 50. Wendover, UT? N on 5, then follow 80 through all its zigs and zags. Or Casper, WY: E on 166, then N on 15, R at Provo past Heber to 80, then N at Rawlins. Portland or Seattle or Arlington? N on 5 all the way! Then there's 10 and 40 for E-W! No way I'm going "Direct To" to Denver!

     Guess what? Most airports are along the major highways! I have also spoken to several who have put their Lancairs down on a road, well, at least in one case, on a truck's flat-bed trailer on a road. They lived to tell about it. And the planes were repairable. I haven't yet heard anyone tell me about his off-airport landing in a field of boulders. I'll bet that GPSS would follow those roads quite well! Flying at 11,500 or 12,500 with that 15:1 glide ratio puts lots of airports in range when that engine starts making funny noises!  

Paul,

 

Gee, too bad.  I live in fly-over country where "direct-to" is as safe put'n one foot in front of the other.

 

If you follow roads, the DG bug works well, too.

 

The GPSS follows any way points you care to utilize or program - But, if going from A to B requires constant acute angle turns, it'll take forever.  I reduce my risk by reducing my time in the air.  Ergo, Direct-to.

 

If you plan on a wee Lancair at a 15:1 glide ratio, good luck!  500 fpm with the prop at coarse pitch and best glide is best case, about 10:1 as a rule of thumb.   A seized motor is less performance and, with the prop stuck in cruise pitch and wind milling, the result is a descent rate of 1500 fpm, a glide ratio of about 3:1 - similar to a brick.  I hope you don't have a fixed pitch prop.......

 

Fly the way you like.

 

Grayhawk