Thanks Gr8, There"s no place like home!!
Pace,
One big difference between Skydivers (1200 jumps and an AFF rating, just by the way!!) and aeroplanes is that skydivers don't have engines!! Aeroplanes don't have "Terminal velocities". They accelerate until the total drag (which, we've established, INCREASES as speed increases at any speed above Dmin) is equal to the thrust.
I think you may be acknowledging that the best performance is indeed achieved at Vyse. What you then suggest, i.e that the problem is that at any speed below that, drag increases, is totally valid. If you have excess performance, indeed it may be wise to use it to climb at a higher speed, thus increasing your margins over the bottom of the drag curve. This will, however, lead to a reduced climb rate. If the terrain makes this acceptable, then it may be fine as a technique.
You did, however, indicate that you believe the aircrafts total drag reduced and performance increased at speeds in excess of Vyse and, I think I've shown, this is simply false.