On Fri, 28 Nov 2003 at 16:59:43 in message
, Greg Esres
wrote:

I vote with Peter. Minimum sink is least POWER required, not least
THRUST.

But surely minimum sink rate is only relevant when there is no power or
thrust? It requires finding a minimum value of V*sin(theta) where theta
is the angle of climb (negative when descending).

As I recall for a gliding aircraft minimum sink comes roughly at the AoA
where (Cl^(3/2)/Cd is a maximum. This is normally at a higher AoA than
maximum Cl/Cd and is some cases is quite close to the stall.

Power is drag (or thrust) times velocity.
--
David CL Francis