My text descriptions of the glide angle visualizerw were
well under 1000 words, and even if they were so long,
they still wouldn't have replaced a couple of pictures.
... so here they are.

These angles are measured with my hands and my eyeballs.
To figure out the angles you'll see, stand in a long hallway
and look at a spot at eye level on the far wall. Assume the
appropriate hand position, with the top edge of your finger
even with your level sightline. Note the farthest
spot you can see under your finger on the floor.
Measure the distances to the spot and the height of your
eyeball above the floor. That ratio is the "glide ratio" of
the sightline at the bottom of your finger.

You can also count fingers below the horizon at arms length,
but most cockpits don't have enough room for waving your arms
in many directions.

I like this method, because it's free, doesn't clutter up the
cockpit, works in any aircraft, is always with me, and
won't blow away if I open the window.

Bob,

 

I guess my attempt at humor didn't work - it is always a risk.  Sorry.

 

OK, I thought about your method and even tried to set it up. There are some limitations.

 

I didn't have a long enough hall for finding the right cuticle/nail tip at 10:1 when standing, so I sat in a comfy chair about 36.6 feet from a nice oriental picture so that the faintly visible foot of the Geisha was about 44" up from the floor/wall seam - about the same as my eyeballs.  No matter which way I worked the fingers, they just weren't in good enough focus.  I am far sighted with astigmatism and wear bi-focal glasses all the time (hmmmm, the FAA even requires that I wear them while flying).  I do rely on laser sighting when shooting since I can focus on the sights or the target, but not both (don't stand anywhere in front of me).

 

So, I remembered an article about using a Coke bottle to train oneself where to scan about the horizon for bogies.  Since I always carry 500 ML Mountain Valley water bottles, I noted there is a 5 pointed star at the bottom.  If I place one point vertical and two arm tips on the horizon, the two foot tips provide about a 10:1 glide target.  An arm tip is about .9" from a foot tip and my eyeball (whichever one is working at the time) is about 9 inches from the star when looking thru the bottle mouth.  Voila!  A quick 10:1 glide target zone could be acquired and it is focused good enough to pick up the environment.

 

Now for some other problems.  This technique will not work at night or in the clouds.  Yesterday (daylight) I was on a 55 minute cross country flight at 7500 MSL with hellacious winds.  On my return flight with quartering tailwinds I was getting a 25 Knot push.  Suppose I had an engine out after recently passing an airport.  Then suppose I make a 180 and look thru my bottle to find that it is within range, but I note that with such a high headwind, I can't make the field. I also know that in the turbulence, I could never hold the best glide speed as a constant. 

 

Of course, had it been in front of me and in range, I would have had altitude to spare....  Or would I?  Another problem is that the wind changes direction and speed as altitude decreases.  So, that led me to other thoughts (the traffic alerter was silent, the mind wanders)....

 

Since I know my sink rate, a glance at the GPS ground speed would be a great assist in determining if I could get to the nearest airport or a nearby suitable set down site if I knew the distance.  This is assuming my brain is capable of processing anything under stress.

 

Now for a question.  Some pilots are operating with displays that have been programmed to show the extent of a glide at best glide.  Does such a display compensate for the wind or use GPS ground speed to adjust the range?  Does one program the sink rate at best glide as determined by experimentation? Can different conditions be programmed (wind milling or stopped prop)?

 

Here is the bottle I would use (maybe others would be better):