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5 Rules-of-Thumb Every Pilot Should Know

By Colin Cutler | 11/24/2020

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1) Estimating Your Crosswind Component

When you're on the ground, it's easy to use the crosswind chart in your POH, or an E6B. But when you're in
the air, neither of those options are very practical. GET THE
Lucky of all of us, there's an easier way. If the wind is 30 degrees off the runway, your crosswind component is COMPETITIVE
about 50% of the wind speed.
EDGE.
If the wind is 45 degrees off the runway, the crosswind component is about 75% of the wind speed. Join ATP - Become
an Airline Pilot.
And if the wind is 60 degrees or more off the runway, the crosswind component is roughly the same as the
total wind.

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2) 10% Weight Increase = 20% Takeoff and Landing Distance Increase Quiz: 7 Questions To See How Well
You Understand Aerodynamics
The more weight you have, the more runway you need. And while this rule is far from exact, it gets you in the
Quiz | Corey Komarec | 06/21/2021
ball park for a normally aspirated plane.

Obviously, when it comes time to calculate your actual performance, you'll want to pull out your POH.

Should You Go Missed If You Fly Past

The VDP On An Instrument
Approach?
Article | Swayne Martin | 06/19/2021

3) Takeoff roll increases about 10% for every additional 1,000 feet of density altitude The 7 Most Common Weight And
Balance Mistakes
For most normally-aspirated airplanes, you add about 10% of takeoff roll distance for every 1,000' of density List | Corey Komarec | 06/19/2021
altitude (DA). !

For example, in Denver, with an increase of 3,200' of density altitude, you'd increase your takeoff roll by about
32%.

So if you have a 1,500' takeoff roll on a standard day in Denver (3 degrees C), you'll increase that roll to almost
2,000' on a 30C day.

How To Immediately Improve Your

Takeoffs and Landings
Article | Boldmethod | 11/13/2017

Quiz: Could You Handle These 6

Multi-Engine Failures?
Quiz | Colin Cutler | 06/18/2021

4) When Should You Start Your Descent?

3 degrees is a comfortable descent rate in just about any aircraft. But when you're approaching an airport, how
do you know when to start down?

Divide the altitude you need to lose by 300.

For example, if you're at 11,000', and you need to get down to a pattern altitude of 2,000', you need to
descend 9,000'.

9,000/300 = 30 miles.

If you start a 3-degree descent 30 miles out, you'll hit pattern altitude as you reach the airport. Keep in mind,
you'll want to add a few miles on to your number, so you hit pattern altitude slightly before you get to the
airport.

5) ILS Course Width

VFR pilots can make good use of the ILS too. Whether it's a dark moonless night, or a long straight-in on a
hazy day, following the ILS to your runway keeps you safe from terrain and obstructions (not to mention, you
know you're lined up with the right runway).

The closer you get to the runway, the more sensitive the signal is. As you cross the threshold, 1/2 dot
deflection on the localizer = about 1/2 the runway width. So if you're a half dot off as you approach the runway,
you're going to be looking at the runway edge lights.

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COMPETITIVE EDGE.
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Airline Pilot.

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What are other rules-of-thumb do you use? Tell us in the comments below.

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9 Comments Sort by Oldest

Add a comment...

Arturo David Besa

Half the runway and 70%
of the takeoff speed... Or
abort!!
Like · Reply · 2 · 29w

Edy Kauan
That is a good
rule for smaller
runways, but if
you are taking off
from a 9000
runway are you
really going to
wait 4500 ft of
runway to decide
to abort if you
aircraft is
supposed to be off
by the 1500 ft
marker?
Like · Reply · 2·
29w

Brad Friesen
What I used at
Telluride when the
density altitude
was off the charts
at 11,300. Good
rule to know.
Like · Reply · 29w

Jim Lawson
Edy Kauan you
totally miss the
point. If you are
on a 9,000'
runway, you won't
have to wait to
4,500' because
you will be
airborne. If you
are not airborne at
4,500' you should
abort!
Like · Reply · 1·
29w

Show 1 more reply in

this thread

Michael Marks
For rate of descent for a 3
degree descent angle use
5 times your ground
speed in rate of descent.
Like · Reply · 5 · 29w

David Peters
I like the one that uses
minutes on a clock for
crosswind component.
At 30 degrees or 30
minutes you are half way
around the clock or half
the wind speed as your
crosswind component. At
45 degrees/minutes you
have 3/4 or 75% of the
wind component and at
60 degrees/minutes you
have full wind as
crosswind component.
Like · Reply · 19 · 29w

Cheryl Morgan
That is good. No
math !!! thanks
Like · Reply · 29w

Brad Friesen
I use this rule as
well.
Like · Reply · 29w

John C Francis
Sky above and runway
behind are useless.
Like · Reply · 29w

Get Inspired Flight, Inc

The "divide by 300" rule is
definitely scaled to
particular aircraft speeds.
Descending 9000 ft at 500
fpm takes18 minutes,
which in our little plane
flying 90 mph or 1.5
mi/min is at most 27 mi --
which is only 23 nm :-)
Be sure to calculate the
size of the thumb for your
airplane!
Like · Reply · 3 · 29w

Lukáš Chlebovec
Well... This is a bit
of a
misunderstanding
I think... "devide
by 300" does not
tell you anything
about descent
rate, which is
indeed dependant
on your ground
speed.... This rule
of thumb is just
telling you the
distance which
will be covered by
3 degree descent
angle nothing
more, nothing
less...it is not
dependent on
ground speed... If
you want to hit 3°
descent multiply
your ground
speed in kts by 5
and you get
approx 3° descent
rate in ft/min .
Like · Reply · 22h

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Colin Cutler
Colin is a Boldmethod co-founder, pilot and graphic artist. He's been a flight instructor at the
University of North Dakota, an airline pilot on the CRJ-200, and has directed development of
numerous commercial and military training systems. You can reach him at colin@boldmethod.com.

Images Courtesy:
Boldmethod
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