We are often hot and high in the US, ATC likes to jam us in when they can. We are usually expected to maintain 170 to 180 knts to a 5 mile final, which is 1500' AGL (coincides with the 300' per mile formula). So we are rarely Vapp plus 10 at the 1000' gate. And it really does not matter. If you are stable on the glide slope but fast you will in almost all cases be stable by 500'. We have a hard gate at 500' and a soft gate (must be stable at 1000' in IMC) at 1000'. Fully configured at 1000' will get you on speed at 500', I say that because you can't go flaps full over 177 kts (flaps 3 at 185). So you would be in a reasonable speed range to slow to Vapp inside of 1000'.
I use speedbrake and flaps 2 to get down. If I am unstable I turn the autopilot off and just drive it on down to capture the glideslope, open descent down to FAF altitude. If I am really high I will drop the gear, that's a lot of drag with the boards out and flaps 2.
One last thing, if you are at 210 kts (a usual ATC speed here) and given a descent don't be in a hurry to o flaps 1. Once those slats come out then you go to approach idle which gives you an extra 400# fuel flow per side, which you generally don't want if you are trying to get down.
All this is for a 320. For a 319 you have to configure 1 mile sooner.
Last edited by cactusbusdrvr; 23rd Oct 2012 at 02:25.