DCA Arrival...

[motrboatr]

No sir!

However I feel your pain, sometimes. The Jungle jet does not like to slow down and get down at all.

I love the approach controllers when they say "Descend to 4000' slow to 210."
Well dude, it one or the other, not both...

As a controller, I can assure you the FAA does not give us nearly enough information as to the capabilities of most aircraft.
As an En Route Controller I can't speak for the Terminal guys, but us En Route guys prefer altitude and then speed.

 

[Soul Brotha']

They put the speed brake on the plane for a reason.

 

[genot]

As a controller, I can assure you the FAA does not give us nearly enough information as to the capabilities of most aircraft.
As an En Route Controller I can't speak for the Terminal guys, but us En Route guys prefer altitude and then speed.

Speed first then altitude for this terminal guy. Can't stack arrivals to the runway. To be fair I either say reduce to then descend or give a hard altitude and slow to as able and give them a few sweeps to slow if they can't at least get down and slow down at least a little.

No, the FAA doesn't in any way tell us about capability of aircraft.

 

[wheelsup]

Coming from a guy who works for the company with the largest number of departures/arrivals @ DCA this thing is the biggest pain in the ass I have ever seen. We got *nothing* from our company except a quick memo explaining they were coming. No tips on flying them whatsoever.

As someone who watched 3 different crews in a row, 3 weeks in a row, mess up an extremely simple arrival into a smaller class C airport using their fancy dancy "Regional Airline of the year" VNAV equipment I shudder to think how much people are screwing this up, in new and old equipment.

 

[derg]

As a controller, I can assure you the FAA does not give us nearly enough information as to the capabilities of most aircraft.
As an En Route Controller I can't speak for the Terminal guys, but us En Route guys prefer altitude and then speed.

You can always ask!

From my perspective, 757's are VERY hard to slow and descend rapidly, so choose altitude or a lower airspeed, but not both at the same time.

767's, are a little easier on both.

Mad Dogs (MD-88's) are your friend. They can slow while falling like a rock in the same request.

 

[FM_Weasel]

We're not supposed to ask for both. We're always supposed to tell you which to do first (slow or descend).

Doesn't always happen that way, clearly.

 

[TFaudree_ERAU]

Coming soon to a briefing package near you:
NOTAM DCA 09/153 DCA NAV FRDMM1 STAR N/A UFN

 

[BobDDuck]

Coming soon to a briefing package near you:
NOTAM DCA 09/153 DCA NAV FRDMM1 STAR N/A UFN

While coming over BKW last week on the way to Philly I heard a ZDC controller tell an AWAC crew that the ELDEE arrival was notamed out until November 15th. Not sure what that is all about.

 

[wildfreightess]

Anyone else find humor in the irony that the Freedom 1 arrival is so restrictive?

 

[Bud01]

does anyone else think that the Gibbz1 into IAD is based on NCIS? some of the points sounds like some of the people on there.

 

[BWER]

does anyone else think that the Gibbz1 into IAD is based on NCIS? some of the points sounds like some of the people on there.

The first time I saw a plane with it I was thinking the same thing. Makes you wonder.

 

[Crism]

I've flown this arrival numerous times now, and it's a pain. Biggest tip: Use the bottom altitudes as hard altitudes. It makes it SO much easier using it as a long line of stepdowns. Unfortunately, no VNAV or autothrottles in the Embraer 145 so it's all done by hand. I had the autopilot kick off once as well...my leg...made it interesting, but not terrible.

The worst part is that it seems like it was developed by a 12 year old. The first revision of the chart had an error with a fix depiction. Another chart (I think the TRUPS1) had a different fix depiction error. No one proofed this? Seriously? Certain airplanes we have (with a different FMS version) create 2 FRDMM fixes, and it requires one of them to be manually deleted. Otherwise, once the airplane hits FRDMM, the autopilot engages ROLL mode and goes straight ahead instead of continuing the arrival transition.

There has to be a better way about going about this arrival. I'd say it needs another note on it for VNAV and Autothrottle capable aircraft only. The stepdowns require an uneven descent rate as well so it's not a smooth ride for the passengers.