sorry for the discontinuity, but there is a limit on post lenght... maybe I should have said less. Anyway, here is the rest

Also, I have to question your note about flying behind the power curve in a real airplane. I'll skip the examples like wayne handley's turbo raven, which has more power than thrust... No really, even in a cessna, flight behind the power curve is not just a very convenient thing, it is a requirement! I don't know if we have the same thought model for how the "Bucket" speed works, but to elaborate very briefly, there is an airspeed at which an airplane will require the least power to maintain level flight (I know it is a simplification, but see above...) In a small Cessna single, that speed might be 70 knots; stall speed in the landing configuration of that same airplane is closer to 40. When learning to make spot landings, it is important to understand that an excessively fast final results in a float, and thus makes the judgement on very difficult. When it matters what spot the airplane lands on, the best way is to use a speed below that bucket speed, since it allows for less float during the flare. After all, the low speed means less kinetic energy to give away. When approaching a landing in a power off situation (engine failure, landing contest, whatever) management of the power curve is one of the best ways to ensure the desired glide path. Take my word for it; at one of the NIFA national power off landing contests, the winner had a combined score for two landings of 20... since he was penalized one point for each foot that he was away from the runway, averaging 10 feet per landing. The point is that sometimes feet matter. We have to tell pilots about the way an airplane handles behind the power curve, since it is very counter-intuitive! We even teach them manuvers so that they can practice it at a safe altitude. When you are gliding for a landing, at a speed below the speed on the power curve, and you are below the glide path, the corrective action is to dive. That's right, when you are low, you dive. In the short term, sink rate will increase, but in the long term, drag decreases and the airplane becomes more efficient. The dive results in a higher airspeed, and thus a reduction in induced drag; since induced drag is decreasing faster than parasite drag is increasing; and viola- the airplane will do the best it can to return to the glide path. Of course, if it is a bad approach, diving won't fix it, and that statistic stuff comes into play. The part of flight where the power curve is important is called the "region of reversed command" by some people, since a pilot will find that an increase in angle of attack, or elevator back, results in an increased sink rate, or airplane down. Elevator back, airplane down... that's reversed alright. But anyway, I didn't mean to lecture you on stuff you already know; instead, I wanted to make sure that you realize that flying behind the power curve does not lead to instant vaporization or death by spontaneous combustion (not to imply that you implied such); however, in the hands of a trained pilot, it doesn't necessarily lead to accidents either. I'd have much more confidence in a pilot who had explored that flight regime and could "thread a needle" during an off-airport landing than one who just avoided it because he was scared to die. In that case, the cautious one is more likely to die. In summary, sometimes flying behind the power curve is a normal procedure, and it doesn't become dangerous until a pilot gets behind it, or puts himself in a situation where he needs altitude that he doesn't have for the recovery.

One final note... I do enjoy discussing topics, and don't mind a little bit if disagreement... that is where the learning happens! But, let's be sure to stay friendly, rather than tending toward the urge to be short-tempered- after all, we do this for fun, right?