Actually, Vx is at minimum power required/maximum endurance and occurs at
about 75%* of Vy, best L/D. At Vy, induced drag and parasite drag are equal.
Barry Schiff just wrote an excellent article about this Vx-Vy thing on
engine-out procedures in AOPA Pilot. My 235's Vy is about 110 mph -115 mph IAS
so Vx is about 83 mph IAS. I usually do the first part of my climb at this IAS
until about 500AGL.
*Aerodynamics for Naval Aviators, pp.158-163, and Figures 2.23 and 2.24.
[Assuming one is flying at L/D max (Vx) during the early part of the climbout, what is the typical pitching moment that is induced if and when the power goes to zero? I suspect that the back pressure is going to have to be relieved slightly in order to maintain that same AOA. And should one choose to bank the airplane at the same time, the back pressure is going to have to be relieved even more to maintain it (in one G flight, as mentioned earlier). As regards this particular accident, and given the small amount of real data that we actually have but assuming that the power was lost at 80-100' AGL, I can only imagine how difficult it would have been for the pilot to push forward on the stick knowing how little air is separating the aircraft from the ground. I'm not making any judgements or drawing any conclusions, just sharing some food for thought. <Marv> ]
--