The Indianapolis News from Indianapolis, Indiana • 24

Thundoy, Moy 25, 1978 I oq 34 THE INDIANAPOLIS NEWS 3 I Seat Irrlfv YvPV Cost Indianapolis Motor Speedway II I I 3zn mi.iii ox i nnr r( tif If you ore sitting in the Tower at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Sunday and wonder what the guy across the track paid for his seat, perhaps this chart will help. General admission to the Speedway this year is $10 up $3 over a year ago. Reserved seat tickets range from in Grandstand at the north end of the backstretch to $55 for the choice Penthouse boxes across from the starting line and on the outside of the first turn. Reserved parking in the backstretch is $30 plus $12 for each passenger in the car. xf- n-T-, roinAifci I I Reserved ScaU Reserved 1 1 jKS 1 1 I wurwi Miu a 1 Ketervea 5eu I I JPy- fl i f) MHMBMMMMI -MM-MMMMMi MB-MMMMMMMM-MI I I MWMMaMHMMMMHMHHMilB mmmm -M Gmfftowi Rd.

I Gate Gate 8 Gate Gate Gate lii If, I W'WfMTfW Washington n'Wn Atlantic Ocean I 1 Mario's Back In Town 500-Mile Race in 33rd position. His No. 7 Penske-Cosworth was qualified last Saturday by driver Mike Hiss with a four-lap average of 194.647 mph. The NEWS Photo, Bob Doeppers. Mario Andretti signs an autograph at the American Red Ball party for "500" Festival Queen Sherri Kallbrier.

Andretti is back in JFjffiTIFSflfjtf jrs- Indianapolis after winning last Sunday's Bel- gium Grand Prix. Andretti will start Sunday's Jets Have Long Glide Range glide ratio given by the FAA and test pilots for jetliners is far greater than the glide ratio for lightplanes which have a greater wing surface and only a fraction of the weight of the larger aircraft. A Cessna 172, for instance, will glide 20 miles at 12,000 feet. That's only a glide ratio of 9 to 1 compared to the 17 to 1 listed for jetliners which have a much smaller wing surface compared to weight. An average sailplane, which is designed to glide great distances, only has a glide ratio of 20 to 1.

A high performance sailplane, under no-lift conditions such as an overcast day, has a glide ratio of 32 to 1. The airlines that have received exemptions on life raft rules from the FAA contend that tossing out this survival equipment has reduced weight and resulted in improved fuel efficiency. Life rafts are still required aboard jetliners traveling farther than 162 miles over water. This includes flights to and from Miami across the Gulf of Mexico and flights between Boston and New York and from Miami where airliners might be more than 162 miles from shore. Some air travelers have expressed concern over a new ruling by the Federal Aviation Administration that has allowed several airlines to remove life rafts from 'jetliners that occasion- ally travel over water for short dis-.

tances. The FAA recently modified its long-standing policy that required jet-l liners flying more than 50 miles over water to have sufficient life rafts on board for passengers and crew. The new ruling allows jetliners fly- ing as far as 162 miles from shore to apply for an exemption to the life-raft rule. So far, exemptions have been granted to five domestic air carriers: National Airlines, Braniff World Air-; ways, Eastern Air Lines, Western lines and Alaskan Airlines. ,1 The airlines and the FAA contend that total engine failure in today's modern jets is unheard off.

There I hasn't been a single incident in recent years where an airliner was forced to ditch within a few miles of land. (A National Airlines 727 crashed into a bay near Pensacola, recently, when the pilot misjudged his altitude, tut he didn't "ditch" the plane. 4 Jets flying from one coastal city to another and from the Midwest to Washington, New York, Miami and Boston frequently must fly over the ocean while waiting for landing clearance. The distance over water, however, is usually within SO miles of shore and apparently neither the airlines nor the FAA sees this as a hazard to the safety of passengers and crew. One of the reasons, probably the major one, is tremendous gliding distances of modern jetliners.

Although some pilots dispute these figures, the FAA and test pilots for MacDonald-Douglas, Boeing and Lockheed contend the average glide ratios for medium-range jetliners is 17 to 1. This means that the aircraft will glide 17 feet forward for each foot of altitude. At 25,000 feet, for example, the average jetliner would be able to glide without power for 425,000 feet, or 80.5 miles at an established glide speed of 280 knots. At 15,000 feet the same aircraft, with a normal complement of passengers and fuel, could glide 48.3 miles. The FAA also said that the minimum glide ratio of any jetliner in passenger service is 12 to I.

Even the worst glide ratio would enable the aircraft to glide 56 miles in the event of total power failure at 25,000 feet. It is interesting to note that the The Last Row Roger Penske hasn't yet officially moved Mario Andretti into the lost row for Sunday's 500-Mile Race, but the Indianapolis Press Club has. This caricature by The News artist Ron Swartz of Andretti and the other two last row starters, Gary Bettenhausen and Jerry Sneva, will be unveiled on T-shirts at the club's "last row" party tonight. Proceeds from the T-shirt sale will go to the club's scholarship fund..