"Given my experience, which is you don't fly wide open at straight and level but a small percentage of the time, the improved view over the nose while landing is worth more than the tad of speed you might be giving up..."
Takes a lot of chutzpa (sp?) to comment on anything Mark says but I'm chiming in anyway. Unless I'm doing pattern work, descending, or poking around down low for some reason, my throttle is always "wide open". If going somewhere I'm always well above the 7500-8000 ft. level where non-turbocharged engines like mine (GP 2180) are producing 75% or less at full throttle so my throttle is always wide open. It's always been this way no matter what kind of plane I've ever flown. Since I'm not a builder I don't have any authority to say anything regarding tail plane incidence but as a pilot I do wonder why anyone would ever fly around (except for the occasions mentioned above) using partial throttle. I can think of one reason KR flyers might use partial throttle up high . . . if they have a prop with too flat a pitch, full throttle might cause RPM to be above that number at which the pilot may want to operate the engine. In my case, I have props with sufficient pitch to give me 3100 WOT at altitude. My engine is smoothest, happiest, coolest, and most efficient at that RPM so my props have the pitch to give me that RPM at cruise, at altitude, at WOT. I use a 52 x 56 Sterba currently. The engine, being basically an air pump, is most efficient without any throttle plates interfering with the flow of air into the engine. Flying at cruise with partial throttle doesn't compute at all. Mike Stirewalt KSEE ____________________________________________________________ How to Sleep Like a Rock Obey this one natural trick to fall asleep and stay asleep all night. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/52e5721dabfd5721d0924st03vuc
