Posted for "Douglas Brunner" <douglasbrunner@earthlink.net>:

In general your "rules" make a lot of sense.

I am violating one of them though - I plan to put my speed brakes on the
grip.

The reason is that the plane I fly now (a Mooney Ovation) has the speed
brakes on the left horn of the yoke - analogous to having them on the stick
grip. In the 6 years that I have had the plane, I have never inadvertently
deployed them. Part of the reason may be that they are located on the far
left of the yoke and you need to actually make an effort to move your thumb
over there to activate them.

I make quite a bit of use of the speed brakes in my Mooney (which tends to
float) and find this location convenient. In cruise it is very obvious when
you deploy them, there is a significant noise change as well as a significant
negative VSI - really hard to miss. At slower speeds the effect is not that
obvious.

Other people, who are not used to speed brakes on their yoke, seem to prefer
them on their panel near their throttle. The reasoning is that application of
speed brakes will typically be associated with a power reduction. I think
this location makes sense and would have chosen it if not for my prior
experience.

D. Brunner

"""
Anything that is flight critical, or that by its operation or failure could
ultimately result in an in-flight horror story, should never be incorporated
into the stick grip. This includes flaps, landing gear, propeller pitch and
speed brakes.
"""