I have an plane flying at L/D max and I want to maintain L/D max.
Firstly, if this plane burns through a portion of fuel and becomes lighter, how would I have to change the speed to maintain it? My thoughts are that because the plane is ligher, less lift is required to keep it level and therefore Cl decreases, decreasing L/D and therefore I'd have to increase speed?
Also, how would an altitude drop affect L/D max? I assume because of the higher density of air, you'd get more drag and therefore, lower L/D as such, would need to speed up to maintain?
Also, extending speed breaks during landing - again i assume because this increases drag you would need to speed up to get back to max ratio.
I'm quite confused with this concept and what parameters affect what.