Avoiding Shock Cooling in Quick Descent

VLE is 129 KIAS...Cruise is around 140-150 KIAS. To avoid stess, I
would probably not drop gear until I was about 115 KIAS. Still, it is a
good suggestion once I slow to that speed. Thanks.

Sami

Dan Luke wrote:
"O. Sami Saydjari" wrote:

I inferred that the right thing to do might be to lower the prop speed
to a minimum and ease back power as slowly as you can. Does that

sound

about right? How quickly can one expect to pull the throttle back and
not risk shock cooling? If one must get down (say, for air traffic
control reasons, or perhaps because one is trying to take advantage of
favorable winds as long as possible), what is the best procedure.

What

about slipping it down? Does that risk the engine or the airframe at
all? I've never done slips at cruise speeds (just on approach), so
please forgive me if this is a naive question.


What is the V-le for your airplane? If it's high enough, drop the gear
and use them as speed brakes to get down while leaving some power on to
keep the engine warm. Slipping is fine.

There is considerable debate about the danger of shock cooling. Google
these groups or see http://www.avweb.com/news/columns/183094-1.html for
more discussion.