Speedbrakes for a Bonanza: Opinions?

With my Bonanza about to roll out of maintenance with its new
(overhauled) engine, I have been considering ways to preserve that
investment.

Recently, I came across an article discussing speedbrakes and was
wondering if anyone here has experience with speedbrakes in a small
aircraft.

I see the main advantage being the ability to slow and/or descend
without having to significantly drop power, which keeps the engine warm.
If true, this would be an excellent way to maintain engine health.

Looking for any comments, either pro or con, about this modification.
Thanks.

--
Peter

"Peter R." wrote in message
...
With my Bonanza about to roll out of maintenance with its new
(overhauled) engine, I have been considering ways to preserve that
investment.

Recently, I came across an article discussing speedbrakes and was
wondering if anyone here has experience with speedbrakes in a small
aircraft.

I see the main advantage being the ability to slow and/or descend
without having to significantly drop power, which keeps the engine warm.
If true, this would be an excellent way to maintain engine health.

Looking for any comments, either pro or con, about this modification.
Thanks.

Here's what John Deakin had to say at
http://www.avweb.com/news/columns/182085-1.html
"Some pilots spend a lot of money installing speed brakes, because they want
the ability to get down faster, without pulling much power off. If I'm
cruising at high altitude, and ATC wants me down, or I need to dump it
through a layer of potential icing conditions, I'll put the gear down (with
the 156 IAS Vlo on my Bonanza, the gear is a wonderful speed brake), pull
off five or ten inches of MP, and head on down at 2,000 FPM or better. Does
my engine get cold? No, because I'll enrich to peak EGT, then another 50 to
ROP, and that will keep my CHTs nice and toasty. They may slowly drop a bit,
but I'm not concerned about that. In other words, at lower power settings,
I'm running at the "best power" point on the mixture curve for temperature
control. This gives a surprising amount of temperature control, too!"

And http://www.avweb.com/news/columns/182107-1.html

"Just consider one of those times you've looked longingly at the ads for
speed brakes. Now, let me show you why you don't need them!"


--
Matt
---------------------
Matthew W. Barrow
Site-Fill Homes, LLC.
Montrose, CO

Contact Steve Oxman through the WBS, he's the newest president. Steve
has speed brakes on his K model Bonanza. He'll be able to give you
the straight skinny.

On Tue, 11 Jan 2005 13:32:45 -0500, Peter R.
wrote:

With my Bonanza about to roll out of maintenance with its new
(overhauled) engine, I have been considering ways to preserve that
investment.

Recently, I came across an article discussing speedbrakes and was
wondering if anyone here has experience with speedbrakes in a small
aircraft.

I see the main advantage being the ability to slow and/or descend
without having to significantly drop power, which keeps the engine warm.
If true, this would be an excellent way to maintain engine health.

Looking for any comments, either pro or con, about this modification.
Thanks.

Peter R. wrote:
With my Bonanza about to roll out of maintenance with its new
(overhauled) engine, I have been considering ways to preserve that
investment.

Recently, I came across an article discussing speedbrakes and was
wondering if anyone here has experience with speedbrakes in a small
aircraft.

I see the main advantage being the ability to slow and/or descend
without having to significantly drop power, which keeps the engine warm.
If true, this would be an excellent way to maintain engine health.

Looking for any comments, either pro or con, about this modification.
Thanks.

I have the Precise Flight speed brakes on my Mooney. I've never flown a Bo, so I
can't comment on that. On the Mooney, I'd say they're "nice to have" but
certainly not a necessity. I don't use them for high power descents, but I do
use them occasionally when I misplan a descent and need to hurry up the descent,
or when ATC asks for an expedited descent.

They've been relatively maintenance free, but there has been the occasional
"hang" when they fail to retract, usually asymmetrically. The resulting roll is
easily overpowered by ailerons. The hang is corrected with cleaning and lubrication.

I wouldn't look for speedbrakes if I were buying an airplane. I wouldn't install
them if they weren't already on the plane. Since I do have them, I'm happy
they're there.

I'm not convinced shock cooling is an important issue, but that depends on your
particular religious inclination, I suppose.

Dave

Dave Butler wrote:
Peter R. wrote:

With my Bonanza about to roll out of maintenance with its new
(overhauled) engine, I have been considering ways to preserve that
investment.
Recently, I came across an article discussing speedbrakes and was
wondering if anyone here has experience with speedbrakes in a small
aircraft.

I see the main advantage being the ability to slow and/or descend
without having to significantly drop power, which keeps the engine
warm. If true, this would be an excellent way to maintain engine health.

Looking for any comments, either pro or con, about this modification.
Thanks.


I have the Precise Flight speed brakes on my Mooney. I've never flown a
Bo, so I can't comment on that. On the Mooney, I'd say they're "nice to
have" but certainly not a necessity. I don't use them for high power
descents, but I do use them occasionally when I misplan a descent and
need to hurry up the descent, or when ATC asks for an expedited descent.

They've been relatively maintenance free, but there has been the
occasional "hang" when they fail to retract, usually asymmetrically. The
resulting roll is easily overpowered by ailerons. The hang is corrected
with cleaning and lubrication.

I wouldn't look for speedbrakes if I were buying an airplane. I wouldn't
install them if they weren't already on the plane. Since I do have them,
I'm happy they're there.

I'm not convinced shock cooling is an important issue, but that depends
on your particular religious inclination, I suppose.

One more thing: I should have added that they are vacuum powered, so put an
additional load on your vacuum pump. I have no idea how significant that is.
They also add a lot of distance to your vacuum plumbing, including a bunch
that's inside your wing where it is hard to inspect.

I've flown a Cessna TP206 with speed brakes in skydiving ops. Very useful
in that
operation. They halve the descent time from 12,000 ft. Don't even have to
remember to retract before landing as they are inop below 100kts.




"Dave Butler" wrote in message
news:1105471673.894646@sj-nntpcache-3...
Dave Butler wrote:
Peter R. wrote:

With my Bonanza about to roll out of maintenance with its new
(overhauled) engine, I have been considering ways to preserve that
investment. Recently, I came across an article discussing speedbrakes
and was wondering if anyone here has experience with speedbrakes in a
small aircraft.

I see the main advantage being the ability to slow and/or descend
without having to significantly drop power, which keeps the engine warm.
If true, this would be an excellent way to maintain engine health.

Looking for any comments, either pro or con, about this modification.
Thanks.


I have the Precise Flight speed brakes on my Mooney. I've never flown a
Bo, so I can't comment on that. On the Mooney, I'd say they're "nice to
have" but certainly not a necessity. I don't use them for high power
descents, but I do use them occasionally when I misplan a descent and
need to hurry up the descent, or when ATC asks for an expedited descent.

They've been relatively maintenance free, but there has been the
occasional "hang" when they fail to retract, usually asymmetrically. The
resulting roll is easily overpowered by ailerons. The hang is corrected
with cleaning and lubrication.

I wouldn't look for speedbrakes if I were buying an airplane. I wouldn't
install them if they weren't already on the plane. Since I do have them,
I'm happy they're there.

I'm not convinced shock cooling is an important issue, but that depends
on your particular religious inclination, I suppose.

One more thing: I should have added that they are vacuum powered, so put
an additional load on your vacuum pump. I have no idea how significant
that is. They also add a lot of distance to your vacuum plumbing,
including a bunch that's inside your wing where it is hard to inspect.

They're not a bad idea on some aircraft, but Bonanzas, with their 154K gear
speeds, really don't need them. I also think that shock-cooling is an
overrated thing, but that's another discussion.

- Mark

Matt Barrow ) wrote:

Here's what John Deakin had to say at
snip

Good articles. Thanks.



--
Peter

Dave Butler ) wrote:

One more thing: I should have added that they are vacuum powered, so put an
additional load on your vacuum pump.

Really? Are they the first generation? The Precision Flight
speedbrakes being sold now are driven by electricity.

--
Peter

Jon A. ) wrote:

Contact Steve Oxman through the WBS, he's the newest president.

I'll do that. Thanks.

--
Peter