"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
om...
But your giving up all the speed you should have gotten back from the
climb. You fly slower in the climb but get it back when you start
down. Pulling power back just gives it all up.

It's just a matter of what you want to get back. You are right, you are
sacrificing speed (energy banked during the climb), but you get in return
fuel efficiency (energy banked during the climb).

Which is, essentially, what AJW wrote in the first place.

You don't lose the energy. You just use it differently, depending on your
power setting. Thermodynamically speaking, the lower power setting also
produces the more efficient use of the energy, but of course flying isn't
always about what's most efficient.

Pete