Originally Posted by
sailingfun
He had a thing about the flap speeds. You could only extend them at the lowest allowed speeds so you were always nose up. He said they shook the aircraft to much and caused maintenance to many issues if extended at book speeds. He would however toss the gear down at 11,000 feet and 275 knots. It would sound like a explosion when the handle was moved and the flight attendants would call up in a panic asking what happened.
FWIW... back when gas was Uber pricey we were trained to keep it clean until necessary. Now it seems everyone throws out flaps as soon as they can. Each additional flap selection seems to increase fuel burns about 100 GPH on the jet I fly.