There is a jump plane at my airport that Jesse knows well.
It takes off full gross, flies up to 10,000' full throttle, climb prop. They pull the throttle back (or run out of gas
) to full idle ( chop and drop) many times a day on weekends, all year long. Never had a problem, engine goes to TBO. Anecdotal evidence, but facts none the less.
FWIW I don't generally go to idle until in the traffic pattern.
The typical jump run profile is as follows:
-Full power on takeoff, at gross weight.
-Climb at full power and full RPM for about 30 minutes with cowl flaps open
-Try to time things to where upon reaching 10,500 or 11,500 feet we're on the downwind side of the drop zone flying upwind. Pull power back to about 17" for the jump run.
-Fly straight and level for a few minutes, look around to make sure I'm not about to drop jumpers on some RV doing an overhead break, drop the jumpers
-Reduce power to 15" MP, and RPM to the bottom of the green arc, close cowl flaps
-Try to get the damn door closed
-Roll into a steep bank, peg the VSI going down
-Try to keep an eye on the traffic pattern and crazy rv drivers doing overhead breaks while making yourself dizzy and dealing with your ears wanting to explode
-Try to position yourself to where you can make an entrance into the traffic pattern that'll be safe
-At some point I pull the nose up, go to full flaps, carb heat on, and reduce the power to idle, then land.
It wouldn't surprise me if some of the jump pilots though just chop power to idle when they come down. But one can keep a little power in and still come down fast enough. So that's the SOP that people should be following.