That's true, if you are flying cross country, and are halfway between two airports, you would want to pick the one that's downwind, not necessarily the closest field.
I figure with 1nm per 1000' of altitude, just orbiting the field on a test flight, there is plenty of margin built in since I can supposedly glide about 1.65 nm / 1000' with no wind.

Tom wrote:

Perry,
There always something.  Gotta remember winds.  Being downwind of the airport
at the distance limit would be a problem.

By the way, when flying skydivers I figured out a very easy way to determine
winds aloft with a GPS.  Fly a circle keeping your airspeed constant.  Your GPS
groundspeed will be highest when heading downwind and lowest when heading
upwind.  Do the simple math on speeds to determine how much.  I'm not
suggesting you do this during engine-out, just when you're curious and have a
desire to fly in circles. 

Tom

--- Perry Mick <pjmick@viclink.com> wrote:
  

I've never tested engine out glide, but I also plan with 1000 ft/min. 
And if you assume a 10:1 glide ratio, you can glide 10,000 fpm, or 1.65 
nm or 1.9 sm per 1000 ft. of altitude. When I do test flights, I try to 
stay within 1 nm of the airport for each 1000 ft of AGL. For example, 
5000 ft AGL, stay within a 5 nm radius. Easy with GPS.

    

		
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