Insert your favorite speed cliché here. One of the main reasons we love airplanes is that they go fast—and the faster the better. We post photos on social media of the GPS when riding a screaming tailwind and we agonize over the numbers when imprisoned in a headwind. And no matter what we’re flying, we’ve been heard to say, “It’s a great airplane. I just wish it were a little faster.”
Over the years the number that keeps coming up when we talk to pilots about the speed they’d really like to have is 200 knots TAS. That’s smoking right along. It means potentially having to pay attention to the 250-knot IAS speed limit below 10,000 feet when in a descent and definitely be ready for the 200-knot IAS speed limit under Class B airspace and in certain parts of Class C and D airspace. “That’s cool, man. My airplane is so fast that there are times I’ve got to slow down so I don’t get busted.”