alt Hacker News> The FAA says that for each percent of downhill slope, landing distance is increased by 10%.
This is accurate as to their recommendation, but it was surprising. I know it’s inaccurate, because at a perpendicular angle there would be no way to land. I know they don’t allow an angle that steep, but that means this is “gut feel” inexact math that seems unsafe.
The force required to stop on an inclined plane is proportional to the sine of the angle. At angles less than 10 degrees (~17% slope, far steeper than the FAA would allow for an airport), the small angle approximation of sine is within 0.5% of linear.