How a Learn to Fly 2 Flight Actually Works: Glide Ratio, the Boost Window and Skipping on the Sea

The glide ratio gauge

The small gauge on the flight HUD compares how fast the penguin is falling with how fast he is moving forward. Green means the wing is doing its job. Tilt the nose up too far and forward speed bleeds away until the wing stalls and the gauge goes red; tilt down and you gain speed but spend altitude. The good line is a slow, constant descent with small corrections, and the arrow keys are best used in taps rather than holds. A new glider changes where the sweet spot is, so spend the first run after a purchase learning the angle rather than chasing a record.

When to burn the fuel

The boost is a fixed amount of thrust over a fixed amount of fuel; the question is only when. Firing on the ramp is the common mistake: the sled already has that speed and the rocket adds little. The best window is the top of the first arc, where the climb has flattened and the glider has nothing more to give. A burn there turns the run into two arcs instead of one. With a large tank it is worth saving a second, shorter burn for the last stretch before the water.

The sea

The run does not end at the shoreline. Hit the water at a shallow angle with speed and the penguin skips, and each skip adds distance. Hit it steep and he stops. So in the final seconds, level off instead of diving for speed, and if there is any fuel left, fire it just before contact to flatten the entry. On a good kit the skips can be worth a large fraction of the total.

Obstacles and payloads

In Story Mode an obstacle sits at a set distance with a health bar that carries over between days. Damage depends on how hard you hit it, and the payload is the multiplier. If you are landing just short, the fix is usually one ramp step or a fuel step, not a heavier payload, because weight also costs you the speed you need to reach it in the first place.