Julian, thanks for the reply........No need to come and see the indian country outside your zone! I used to instruct in that very airspace going from Warminster up to Filton for IMC training. I can understand what you mean.
What I still find puzzling is that the other day on 09, we were asked to keep the speed up no1 as two jets up our chuff. No probs! Glad to be able to do it! So we kept 240kts all the way to 6dme. We still shot straight through the centreline, so being visual hauled it around myself autopilot off. Surely the controller having asked us to keep max speed for as long as possible would expect to turn us onto the loc. earlier. Interestingly, we then got a huge thermal including the tailwind that was blowing, and we got very high and fast. But as always dropped the dangly bits and put the airbrakes out and fell like a stone. We can get away with murder at times!!!
Anyhow, I hope you guys have begun to appreciate now that we at 'BE' tend to fly the descent from BCN at 240kts unless its bumpy. Whereas I believe the Brymon boys fly around at 190kts? We quite often have to slow down for our cousins! Hope this helps you guys in your tactical planning.
Oh, those new stands! What a nightmare. What they need to do is pull up all the old surface and start all over again. I have never seen so many different shades of tarmac and concrete in such close proximity! Can't wait unti the winter when its dark and wet again! Mind you the pattern looks more obvious!