REFLECTOR: Cruise speed "speed brake"

[Chuck Harbert]

Scott, I too have wondered if there was a way to install a high speed speed 
brake like the one on the Mooney 201 that pops up on the upper surface of 
the wing to kill the lift. It was great to get down in a hurry without 
puting the engine at idle. I wondered if you could install this electrically 
activated "fence" at the outboard edge of the strake in the wing bolt 
cavity, or inside the wing attached to the spar? They're not that large as I 
recall. They fail safe in the down position and have a warning light when 
deployed, as I recall.

I think that this might be a better way because it kills lift, rather than 
just dirtying up the plane, and possibly making it unstable. I have the 
underbelly speed brake in my RG and it definetely works well for landing, 
but I'd love to have a real speed brake. I'll try to get a look at the 
Mooney's speed brake and send everybody the info.

Chuck H


-------------------------
Scott Derrick wrote:

> I think the standard speed brake is limited to 120 knot extension
> speed.  Which limits its uses to in the pattern.
>
> Has anybody experimented with beefing it up to allow higher speed
> extensions?  Like 175 knots?  This would make it a true speed brake.
>
> I would like something I could deploy at cruise to enable a cruise speed
> descent without shock cooling the engine.
>
> What would you think would be needed to do this?  bigger hinges? bigger
> actuator?  carbon fiber door?