Thread: New Landing Technique?
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Old 07-06-2008 | 09:23 AM
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Originally Posted by AviatorPop
I wanted to know if any of you freight dawgs have heard of this technique or used this method?
New Way To Land Planes May Save Fuel : NPR
Yes, I have also done a few CDAs into Louisville, pretty neat although I felt like we were really high initially…
Here’s part of an email I got a few months back.

UPS Involvement critical to reasearch's success.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press Release
An experimental procedure that substantially reduces the noise of descending aircraft is one step closer to regular use by commercial air carriers, thanks to a research team led by Professor John-Paul Clarke of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In addition to improving the lives of people living and working along airport approach routes, the new procedure reduces aircraft engine emissions and fuel consumption, and costs relatively little to implement.

The team of researchers from Boeing, the FAA, the Louisville Regional Airport Authority, MIT, NASA, and UPS, have successfully flight tested a procedure where aircraft remain at cruise altitude until relatively close to an airport, and then make an even, continuous descent to the runway. The result is lower noise, reduced fuel burn and emissions, and even slightly shorter flights, as aircraft operate at lower power settings, stay at higher altitudes, maintain higher speeds, and take more direct — and thus shorter — paths to the runway.

In traditional approaches, aircraft begin descending many miles from the runway, spending substantial time at relatively low altitudes. These paths are analogous to a staircase: planes descend in steps requiring noisy engine thrust increases every time they level out.

The new procedure was first flight tested at Louisville International Airport in the fall of 2002. The researchers compared the noise between a pair of test aircraft, two UPS Boeing 767 cargo aircraft landing consecutively on the same path. One 767 followed a traditional approach; the other, a continuous descent approach (CDA). The study revealed that a CDA approach reduced noise an average of three to six decibels. A 3-decibel difference is appreciably noticeable to the human ear while a 10-decibel reduction equates to 50 percent less noise.

Following the success of the 2002 test, the researchers have now tried a more complex procedure designed for multiple aircraft in scheduled service. In a two-week trial this September, CDA procedures were applied again at Louisville – this time to 126 scheduled flights. The tests demonstrated that air traffic controllers could handle the 12 to 14 similarly equipped flights per night using the CDA procedure. Although all sequences of aircraft designated for the trial were Boeing 757s or 767s, controllers occasionally blended the trial aircraft with other aircraft types arriving on traditional approaches during the same period, maintaining appropriate separation between aircraft. The tests also confirmed the environmental and economic benefits of the CDA procedure.
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