Testimonials From Pilots Who Use PowerPac Spoilers

SPEED BRAKES: Are they for you? - Article from the American Bonanza Society Magazine on speed brakes for airplanes (pdf download)

They made engine management during descent a breeze and allowed for some steep 2500 fpm descents to comply with the occasional ATC slam dunk approaches.

- Bob Thomason April 2022

I used mine on the way home from the convention today. Was descending into some weather/turbulence and they do a great job at keeping airspeed under control when coming in through rough air in the 340.

- Tim Persson, April 2022

"PowerPac Spoilers offer the opportunity to steepen descent profiles without thermal damage to power plants."
-- Private Pilot Magazine

"Until you've flown with PowerPac Spoilers you don't know what you're missing in terms of aircraft control and management of aircraft spacing."
-- Jack Brush

"We have yet to be faced with a questionable descent profile. It is with the utmost confidence that we begin our final descent from 16,000 feet ... just 20 miles from the airport. Your product has performed well … I recommend it to all Cessna owners."
-- Joseph A. Biasucci

Must have on a Cessna 340A... Spoilers--the ability to emulate the flight characteristics of a rock is a good thing when you're shooting approaches with jets and approach wants you down now. You can also use them to kill all that excess airspeed when you need to.
--Brian A Bros

"The ability to descend quickly through icing or turbulence was my primary reason for installing the PowerPac Spoilers and I am delighted with the results."
-- Gerald S. Fahringer
Piper Malibu Mirage owner

"We have the PowerPac Spoilers installed on two of our aircraft. The Spoilers are useful in getting down without circling and without reducing power and causing engine damage or losing pressurization in the cabin."
-- Jerry Sonnemaker

I absolutely love these spoilers. My main rationalization for the 'spoilers' was two-fold:

1) decrease further the number of engine rpm changes that I have to make during a flight;
2) minimize the "wear-and-tear" on the landing gear (which I had to drop in order to avoid excessive airspeed during a descent). If these spoilers accomplish this, then I will be very satisfied with this reasonable investment.

Here is the summary of my main impressions:

The "spoilers": god, these are wonderful!!!!!!!!!! They work exactly as advertised. From a high altitude (above 15,000 feet), they allow descents of 1300 feet/min at 160 knots with the engine settings unchanged from cruise settings (32" manifold @ 2500 rpm). The true advantage is not having to drop the gear to slow down and being able to leave the engine settings unchanged.

During descents at low altitude (below 8,000 feet), the rate is about 1,000 feet/min @ about 170 knots airspeed indicated. They are entirely flat against the wing when not in use and are installed on the outside wing portion next to each engine just forward of the flaps.

Surprisingly, the noise level when activated is just a very low volume rumble. O' lord they work well, though.
-- Frank
Owner, Beechcraft Duke

Cessna 337 Power Pac Spoilers...perhaps one of the best STC'd items available. I come down from altitude at full cruise power and RPM...never having to "pull back an inch at a time" as you'd do in a normal twin...because, the spoilers bring me down at 1000 FPM without exceeding the Green Arc.
This is a perfectly engineered solution to avoid shock cooling the engines.
-- C-337 owner

PowerPac spoilers allow you to descend at rates in excess to 5000 feet per minute while maintaining cabin pressurization. These spoilers are designed to limit the amount of pitch change and buffeting experienced. They are hydraulically operated using the aircrafts hydraulic system and simply operated by a push-button switch.
-- AerostarAviation.com

We added PowerPac spoilers many years ago and have never regretted it. I thought I would share with you my thoughts on the subject.
Flying an Aerostar is all about going fast, but there are times when you need to slow down. You can fly without PowerPac spoilers, but being able to slow down without changing pitch, trim or power makes the pilot’s job easier.

I fly into Aspen (KASE) regularly. It is a challenging approach and oftentimes you are cleared for the visual while still in the flight levels. You can descend rapidly using flaps and landing gear but how to get to Vfe and Vge? You can pull power but pressurization is still needed. Enter PowerPac spoilers. Just pop them out and quickly drop to flap and landing gear extension speeds.

I like to descend with lots of speed. The Aerostar is great at doing so. But let’s say you are about to enter the tops of some lumpy clouds and it would be nice to slow to maneuvering speed. With PowerPac spoilers, I just hit a button and there you are - no power changes, no pitch changes, no trim adjustments. Once through, I drop the spoilers and accelerate.

Of course there is always the cool factor of using spoilers to slow on landing rollout. I don’t know how much it helps, but it looks cool and I feel like one of the big guys. LOL

Thanks again. Cheers and best wishes.
Joel

I had the spoiler package installed on my 58P when I changed over to the Ram engines. I have found that yes if you are able to plan your decent and not cool the engines they are not needed. But in the real world this does not happen every time. I am able to deploy the spoiler and flaps at 170 knots, reduce the power 2 inches and descend at 1500 to 1700 ft/per/ min. The engines stay hot and I have great control. I recommend that you fly a Baron with spoilers to see how they function.
-- BeechTalk Forum

I have had the spoilers on my C414A Ram VII now for approximately one month. They are FANTASTIC! I can now easily comply with ATC's "expedite descent" requests without any workload stress or shock cooling of my engines or stressing the landing gear. "Maintain altitude for crossing traffic" as you approach your destination is no longer a problem. Fast approaches into large airports with busy jet traffic is much less stressful. Additionally, I am able to make up time lost in climb with the descents at cruise power. I have even had ATC request that I slow down my arrival for traffic. I have experimented with using the spoilers on final approach as well as the flare. They have very benign handling characteristics. I am VERY pleased. The spoilers are one of the best upgrades I have made to the aircraft.
-- Jason Seavolt

Quotes from Flying Magazine Article on PowerPac Spoilers:

"A flush mounted speedbrake system that fully retracts into the wing might have caused problems in icing conditions. The operation of the Spoilers Inc. system mimics the opening of a car door. If ice collects on the surface of the spoilers when they are extended it shouldn't interfere with retraction. Just as important, the spoilers are mounted so far aft on the wing that ice accumulation shouldn't significantly disrupt lift"

"Deploying the spoilers produces a welcome increase in drag when it's needed."

"Getting down is easy in a Malibu/Mirage... equipped with a PowerPac spoiler system."

-- FLYING MAGAZINE

Spoilers are, in my opinion, the number-one improvement modification available for a 414A. Like flaps, speed brakes (spoilers) can function as a speed control device or a drag tool. PowerPac spoilers are a commercial jet-type design with single flat plates, one on top of each wing, and reportedly command descent rates up to 3.5 times faster.
Cessna Flyer Magazine, August 2015.

Jerry Temple
Jerry Temple Aviation

Cruise at 25,000 feet @ 225 kts and let the PowerPac spoilers take the worry out and stress out of the descent.

MultiCorp Aviation

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