On Sunday, May 18, 2014 12:41:36 PM UTC+12, Alan wrote:
Power off gliding to maximum range is less important - the power planes
generally don't have polar charts that show the effects of weight on their
glide, and don't mention minimum sink at all.

It's the same as speed for maximum excess power, aka speed for maximum rate of climb.

Well, neglecting effects from prop thrust (or windmilling prop drag in the engine-off case) anyway.

And possibly in some cases the engine being unable to rev to maximum power at too low an airspeed -- but that's pretty bad design if it can't by airframe min drag speed.

And assuming that the aircraft isn't *so* powerful that it can climb at extreme angles where the wings need to generate substantially less lift than the weight.