Mad Jock
Interesting discussion! I touched on spiral dives that could warrant a discussion too as being an uncomfortable manouvre which holds risk but one which is taught and put up with if unpleasant.
I read an article called "beyond VNE" Obviously not an area that pilots usually operate in willingly.
It was not the speed itself which broke the aircraft but the pilot inputs yet in pilots minds VNE conjures up a point where the aircraft will explode
in the said article they recommended dropping the gear rather than control inputs to slow the aircraft down even though the speed would be well over the gear speed. How many pilots would consider that rather than trying to pull out of the dive at very high speed? Yet it could save your life.
We can all be taught to fly to the expected it when we go out of that safe boundary that our descisions right or wrong determine the outcome.
Added this snippet
"In an emergency, the landing gear may be used to create additional drag. Should disorientation occur under instrument conditions, the lowering of the landing gear will reduce the tendency for excessive speed build-up. This procedure would also be appropriate for a non-instrument rated pilot who unavoidably encounters instrument conditions or in other emergencies such as severe turbulence."
"Should the landing gear be used at speeds higher than the maximum extension speed [145 KIAS], a special inspection of the gear doors in accordance with shop manual procedures is required, with repair as necessary."
Beechcraft is telling us is that, at unusual airspeeds, we will start losing the wings before landing gear components (except for the gear doors) if the gear is lowered at airspeeds in excess of 145 KIAS. Easy enough to complete a flight safely with a bent gear door (just leave the gear down, please). Not so easy to complete a flight missing parts of the tail.
In a V35 in a 30-degree descent, if you chop the power and drop the gear you'll decelerate to 153 KIAS (0.9 Vno) at a 7,753 fpm descent rate. Leave the gear up and the power in and you'll be flying at 256 KIAS (1.3 Vne / 1.17 Vd) and descending at 13,000 fpm. Add full power and you'll be at 270 KIAS (1.4 Vne / 1.24 Vd) and hurtling downward at 13,700 fpm
Pace