Shucker,
Thanks for the reply and the excellent question.
Shooting from the hip here... most of us are acutely aware of the SLOW speed that you AirBUS drivers operate at. We realize that it's no big deal to sequence and space you behind a... SlowTation, but we will often try to squeeze 170 or 180 out of you depending on the situation.
With that said, we also know that YOU are responsible for the safe operation of YOUR aircraft. If we (ATC) issue you with a clearance to maintain 180 knots to the marker, and this is a speed that you are unable to comply with, or simply uncomfortable with -- just read back the Approach Clearance and tell ATC that your best Approach Speed will be XXX knots. The WORST thing to do, is accept the Approach Clearance and associated Speed Assignment and then fly a different speed -- this would be a Pilot Deviation, and I know you don't want that!
If you know in advance that your Approach Speed will be less than 160 - 170 knots for some reason, it might be nice to let the Final Controller know about this BEFORE he/she turns you onto the Localizer. Some Controllers might grunt and groan at this bit of information from you, but will be privately thankful that you shared this info prior to receiving the Approach Clearance.
MEM_ATC
Originally Posted by
Shuckers86
I have a question for you MEM_ATC. I am a Bus driver and it seems we always get the clearance " cleared for the approach, 180 to the marker". This is sometimes a difficult to pull off without cheating, especially land ing north with the frequent tailwind. The final flap speed in the Bus is 175. To slow the Bus while descending on the G/S to get the final flaps and be stable by 1000' is some nights impossible. When I ask for 170 some of your brethren act like I'm stealing one of their children. Any thoughts? You guys do an awesome job night after night. Thank you.