Quote Shka Zulu
Have you ever flown a 73NG with a lightfuel/payload. On a >3deg slope its a nightmare to slow down without chucking the gear out to get the speed back.
Whats the problem with lowering the gear when as an aicraft commander you feel it prudent to do so for any number of reasons.
Some posters on here have been well and truly SOP'd. I fully understand a stable approach criteria and the need for regulation to account for a broad spectrum of command personalitys and abilitys, but inflicting your speeds on other operators to keep your insurance premiums down is just a bloody p*ss take!
People go on about pressures of command and decision making, when its seems to me that captains are in effect having these decisions made for them in a windowless head office somewhere regardless of the conditions on the day. Where will we be in 10 years?
Im not ATC but imagine trying to facilitate everybodies SOP on a daily basis and trying to get maximum runway useage (to avoid delays) with 20 airlines having 20 different ideas of how to do it safely.