quote:
" Low and slow? Burning tons of unnecessary fuel? You're kidding, aren't you, mate? The IDLE POWER descent profile for the Boeings around here is very roughly the following:
80nm... FL200... 300KIAS
60nm... FL150... 300KIAS
40nm... FL110... 300KIAS
35nm... FL110... 250KIAS
20nm... 5000.... 250KIAS"
Interesting figures. According to my mental E6B that works out at about 1125ft/min. Why then was the Virgin 737 coming down at 3000ft/min?
Not wishing to upset anyone but it seems to me that arriving at 45DME @ ~FL200 would only require a 2000ft/min descent, which is well within the capabilities of the aircraft and a lot slower than the Virgin was doing into class E.
If you don't like class E, don't use it! If the STAR is outdated lets get it changed. Request a TOD to remain in A/C and everyone can stop worrying and get back to important stuff, like how the hell are we going to beat the Indians twice!