What would your vertical speed indicator read if you need to descend from FL 300 to 5000 ft and have a ground speed of 300 NM/HR?

To determine the correct vertical speed indicator reading for a descent from 30,000 feet (FL 300) to 5,000 feet, you first need to calculate the total descent required and how long it will take at the given groundspeed.

The total altitude to descend is:

30,000 ft - 5,000 ft = 25,000 ft.

Next, with a ground speed of 300 nautical miles per hour, it helps to convert that speed into feet per minute since vertical speed is usually measured in feet per minute (FPM).

1 nautical mile is approximately 6,076.1 feet. Thus:

300 NM/HR = 300 x 6076.1 ft/HR = 1,822,830 ft/HR.

To get feet per minute:

1,822,830 ft/HR ÷ 60 min/HR = 30,380.5 ft/min.

Now, you need to find out how long it will take to cover the horizontal distance while descending to 5,000 feet.

The rate of descent is determined by how quickly you want to descend that 25,000 feet at the horizontal distance you'd travel during that descent. For example, if you want to reach