Little question about Platform

[The Phiz]

Ok, I have had about a 50-50 split on instructors telling me how to do a penetration approach. So, just for shit n' giggles:

Dive to platform and then drive in to the next point? Or suck the boards in prior to platform to arrive at the next point on the approach at altitude?

I have been told the reasoning to the Dive and Drive is 'that's how it's done at the boat'. And the reasoning for arriving at the altitude and point at the same time is for fuel efficiency. So which do you do and why?

 

[Kycntryboy]

I say its why your doing the penetration anyways. If it's for icing obviously get to the bottom and drive. If you are doing it for fuel, I play out the decent. If I'm unfamiliar with a field I'm more likely to dive and drive.

 

[C420sailor]

I'm lazy and it's easier to keep a slightly lower rate of descent on the jet and coast down than it is to level off multiple times during an approach. It does really depend on the things mentioned above. If I have a mandatory altitude to hit (as opposed to a min or max) I'll get down early and truck it in, much like an MDA.

 

[usmarinemike]

Boards out until altitude to lose is less than half the DME left to lose it. Maybe a few seconds longer just for some extra slop or if you have a ridiculous tailwind. Hasn't failed me yet.

Also what KY said. If my neurons are stressed out and I haven't looked at the approach, it's easier to just cut out the math and get down.

 

[BarrettRC8]

This mostly applies to my experience in sims, since I've only ever shot two or three Hi-TCN/ILS.

If it is an approach I'm familiar with and/or I'm worried about fuel, play it out - The sim IPs seem to like it as it requires more finesse.

If I'm not familiar with the approach and/or I don't have to deal with fuel issues, I think it's easier to get down to altitude and level off, especially if it's a ridiculous double or triple arcing approach with numerous altitude restrictions that you'll likely only ever see in the sims. Kind of akin to shooting the alligator that's closest to the boat so they don't all overwhelm you at once.

Bottom line, either will work as long as you have a good reason for doing it.

 

[nittany03]

The only time I'd try to "finesse" the descent is if fuel is a concern. And NO, I don't mean the meatheaded mentality from a certain sim instructor who shall remain nameless that "In a T-45, fuel is ALWAYS a concern!" Proper preflight planning prevents piss-poor preformance. And stressing unnecessarily about fuel. But then again, I'm lazy.

In reality, look at how much gas you burn on an approach, according to your SOP/FTI. Think about whether that actually is an approximation of the given approach (hint: it's usually conservative; try it in the sim sometime). Then figure if the gas you save is worth the extra geekery to figure a gnats-ass rate of descent. And remember student rule #342: if an instructor's "technique" is worth a bone and not obviously moronic, it's worth trying at least for 1.5 hours of simulated flight time.

 

[pourts]

Boards out until altitude to lose is less than half the DME left to lose it. Maybe a few seconds longer just for some extra slop or if you have a ridiculous tailwind. Hasn't failed me yet.

I always thought it was kinda stupid to time the boards perfectly like some of those sim instructors want, so you hit each checkpoint dead on all the way down without having to add power. If you are really that low on fuel, you will be doing a bingo type descent to the final portion of an approach, not arcing out to kingdom come and back.

Like they said either way works. Just ask your instructor which he likes and do that for the above.