Jonty, you seem to have missed the point. You say
"In our company the managment have decided that it is best to be high on the profile but slow, with plenty of options at correction, than fast but at the correct alt with limited options at corrections and with the constant threat of "direct centre fix" coming over the airwaves.
"What Im trying to say is if your fast, you cannot get gear and flap down, and to slow down your going to have to go high on the profile. Is it not best to do this early, say around the 10K mark, than just before you capture the glide slope?"
Energy management has to be part of an overall package within profile and sequencing management. Kinetic and potential energy can be transferred from one to the other. Flap and gear should be viewed as "irreversible" of course they are reversible, you can retract them, however try treating them as one shot operations. Should you be unlucky enough to be caught out hauling it in in high drag, the fuel penalty is significant. However should you have had the foresight and opportunity to use the speed (the drag/squared law) to reduce energy to the point wher you can haul it in clean (under the profile) the fuel penalty is much reduced. Higher speeds produce more drag and therefore disperse energy more efficiently especially at lower levels.
You may misunderstand, our company has a defined policy in writing to maintain 250 kts below 10000ft with certain noteable exceptions. None of these exceptions preclude sensibe use of the laws of aerodynamics and the characteristics of your aircraft type to integrate SAFELY into traffic patterns.
I did try hard to say nothing derogatory and something positive about 411a's comments.
[This message has been edited by beardy (edited 02 July 2001).]