</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica"> The lift does not equal the weight in either a steady climb or descent. In a steady descent the lift = weight . CosŲ, Where Ų is the angle of descent. Note that in straight and level flight, the angle of descent is zero, and CosŲ = 1 (i.e. Lift = Weight in S&L) at any angle of desent, the Lift < Weight. </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">This is true in theory, Checkboard, but abiding by your previously quoted KISS principle, it's overkill.. .. .A typical descent might be perhaps 5 degrees (500 ft per mile). That makes the load factor 0.996, and thus makes a 0.2% difference to the stalling speed. To all intents and purposes, lift equals weight.. .. .By contrast, the IAS vs CAS issue can account for several knots of difference in airspeed.