Will v5 allow for CDAs (Continuous Descent Approach)? These are mandatory at London's Heathrow, Gatwick & Stansted airports, except where safety would be compromised.For those who may not be familiar, an a/craft say 25 miles out at say 12000 feet will be instructed to descend to 3000 feet. This instruction is the trigger for the crew to adopt the CDA and descend to that level in one rather than the more traditional stepped descent. This saves fuel and reduces noise.CDAs are expected to spread throughout the UK in the near future, are likely to become widespread in Europe in the next year or two and are currently being trialled at several US airports.I'm sure the team has thought of this and wondered what the decision is.Iain Smith

how many of the other 20,000+ airports is this valid for? at this stage of the life of rc, i can't start doing specific things for specific airports.maybe someday. not v5jd

I didn't mean to cause offence jd! I was thinking of it as an option that could be selected by the user if they knew they were flying in such an area. That way you wouldn't have to do it for each individual airport. A bit like the NOTAMS selection.However, I don't know enough about what this would mean to you in terms of programming work, so forgive me if I'm over simplifying something.Iain Smith

no offense taken. i have to think of the big picture.i don't know what it would mean programatically either. first i've heard of it, or the request.jd

> i have to think of the big picture.I understand that jd>i don't know what it would mean programatically either. first>i've heard of it, or the request.The reason I brought it up is that from what I've been reading in commercial aviation mags, CDAs will become very widespread at major commercial airports i.e. not just Europe and North America, in the life of v5. I mentioned it because I know you and the team strive to make RC as realistic as possible.Iain Smith

if it hits our radar, we'll see what we can do. without knowing what it is, and without the controllers on the team telling me if it is the size of shoe box, a bread box, or an ice box, i can't/won't know whether i can do it or notjd

>if it hits our radar, we'll see what we can do. without>knowing what it is, and without the controllers on the team>telling me if it is the size of shoe box, a bread box, or an>ice box, i can't/won't know whether i can do it or notIn case it helps jd here's more information. In the UK there is a document produced jointly by the UK Civil Aviation Authority, the National Air Traffic Service, the UK Govt, airport authorities and some airlines including BA and Virgin entitled "Noise From Arriving Aircraft - An Industry Code of Practice". It defines a CDA as being "a noise abatement technique for arriving aircraft in which the pilot, when given clearance below transition altitude by ATC, will descend at the rate best suited to the achievement of continuous descent, whilst meeting ATC speed control requirements, the objective being to join the glidepath at the appropriate height for the distance without recourse to level flight."Another document "The UK Aeronautical Information Publication" further defines a CDA arrival as "one which contains below 6000feet (or the appropriate TA) no level flight (at all) or one phase of level flight not longer than 2.5 miles (4.2km)."Apparently there has been some resistance to this in the US but now, American Airlines are enthusiastically compliant as are FedEx and UPS all of which fly into the main London airports. There are several trials going on at various US airports and Boeing is an enthusiastic supporter of wider adoption of CDA. The Australian authorities are also showing great interest.Iain Smith

yeah, i'm being educated on our internal discussion group by the non-faa controllers.thanks for the info. looks interesting. no promises on v5. we already have a v6 list going :-)jd