After reading Tom Turner’s excellent article on non-precision approaches (“Non-Precision Stability,” January 2021), I’d like to add a couple of comments as a “legacy dive and driver” (instrument-rated in 1961).
First of all, the Instrument Flying Handbook talks about the benefits of stable descent for swept-wing jet aircraft, and they do exist; I flew them for 35 years. However, I suspect the majority of your readers are flying light singles and twins, which don’t have adverse aileron effects at low speed and are far more responsive in that regime. For that majority, I think that while being the mark of a competent airman and always desirable, the true stabilized flight concept is overstated.
