Standard Procedures That Save Money and Shave Risk

If you operate a turbocharged Continental, you might want to emulate Cape Airs technique for managing speed on the ILS. They set the power and then use drag rather than power changes to control rate of descent. This includes dropping gear to get down to a non-precision approach MDA and then retracting it again for the level-off. Apparently some ex-airline types balk at this at first.

Key Takeaways:

• Cape Air uses a unique descent management technique on ILS approaches for turbocharged Continental engines, prioritizing drag (like gear deployment) over power changes.
• This operational method contributes to exceptional engine longevity, allowing their engines to achieve a legal Time Between Overhaul (TBO) of 2700 hours, significantly higher than the standard 1600 hours.
• The airline is upgrading its fleet with WAAS GPS (Garmin GNS 430Ws) with FAA support, which will provide benefits such as straight-in approaches, higher-angle GPS glidepaths to avoid wake turbulence, and pre-programmed VFR arrivals to enhance safety and efficiency.

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