When you're flying into an airport where there's a lot of jet traffic, controllers often ask you to keep things going fast. They might say, "best forward speed," "maintain 160 knots," or something to that effect, but the desired outcome is the same regardless of who you are: They want you in your piston airplane to keep up with the kerosene burners … or at least not be a speed bump for them.
The controller's need for your speed makes it tough to conduct what many instrument instructors teach, that the best (often, the "only") strategy is to set up for a slow, stabilized numbers-based approach even before you get to the initial fix. I've had instructors in the Cirrus advise me to get it below 140 knots before the initial approach fix, a speed that's often far too slow for the controllers' liking.
And, sure, you can always say, "unable" to the controllers request, but that is code for asking him to vector you all over hell's half acre. (It's much bigger, for the record, than half an acre.) If things are happening too fast or if you're not comfortable with the airplane for whatever reason, this still might be the best bet.
But with a little practice, it's not that hard to fit in with the flow, though that flow can be more like a waterfall than a babbling brook. I've been asked a few times in the Cirrus to maintain speeds as fast as 180 knots. This is a bit of a problem. On most days I can do 180 knots if I have to, but the Cirrus I fly is a fixed gear airplane (still waiting for my Jet), so lowering the gear to slow down is not an option. Nor are there speed brakes, as there are on the Corvalis and late-model Mooneys. The flaps on the Cirrus, too, only offer so much help. Unlike in some airplanes with high first-notch speeds, you need to hold off until 119 knots. So to use the flaps to slow down, you kind of already need to be going pretty slow.
The trick to get the speed down is to trade altitude for airspeed. This is best done, I hasten to add, before you start down on the glideslope. All you do is raise the nose a few degrees above the horizon for a few seconds and let the speed bleed off. The higher you raise it and the longer you hold it, the faster the speed will dissipate. This, of course, needs to be done when gaining a couple hundred feet won't bust an assigned altitude--by the time you're cleared for the approach, this is generally not a problem, as the restriction is usually to maintain "at least" a certain altitude.
Once the speed has bled down to the flap range, throw in that first notch, and coming down will no longer be a problem. And you're back to your stabilized approach.
