" wrote in message
hlink.net...
I'm reading "Fate is the Hunter" and just read something interesting.
Gann
states that they would climb to 100 feet above their cruising altitude and
then descend the 100 feet back down. He called this "flying on the step."
He claims that it bought them a few more knots of airspeed.

Has anyone heard of this? Is it normal practice? Or is it one of those
practices that have been disproven?

Speaking for myself, unless I deliberately overshoot and "dive" back
down from the step, most of my attempts at achieving a target altitude after
takeoff and a long climb result in something resembling a damped fugoid. I'm
only talking about a hundred feet or so unless I wasn't paying attention,
then it may be more than one hundred.
I don't think it's psychological, it just seems to work easier. For me.
By the way, it has nothing to do with getting a better cruising
airspeed. I still agree with the camp that says if the throttle ends up in
the same place so will the ASI.