Cheers!
I got some feedback on my feeble dissertation regarding the title
subject, and have followed the fallout since.
A lot of the discussions have centred around flying at different
throttle settings (or should I say power settings). In order to clarify my
position, I draw attention to my original sample which was a formation at
full throttle. Now, while this is not standard lightplane procedure, it is
the circumstance within which "the step" was promoted. Flying full bore
implies only one power setting, and that's all there is. It also refers to
older (1920's) aircraft where power was always the limit, or to WW II
bombers fully loaded (or over-).
The conditions were a slow climb to highest altitude and level out.
Students of the lift/drag school of comprehension will recall that there are
two positions on either side of the speed curve which exhibit the same power
at different speeds. When you can't climb any higher, and there's no more
power, you get the slow speed because there is no extra power to accelerate
to the higher speed. But you can drop say 200 fpm to a lower altitude and
pick up speed to the higher setting, which will maintain until temperature
or turbulence upset the status quo. Then you have a choice - stay at the new
temp or seek better, or dive again and recover the speed. We are not going
to see this in a Piper Cub or a Europa - nor perhaps in an F-18 pr Tornado
because like some others the fuelflow controller is automatic and
compensate/restricts the power without reference to the 'throttle' setting.
But it was there in the F-86 and the Vamp (ask any ops-qualified driver
about 'battle formation') and in the older transports/bombers.
Back to the sternpost gluing.......
Happy landings
Ferg A064
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