... Although certainly unwelcome news for Embraer, the delay will give it time to complete certification of the 170 for operation into London City Airport, a process that has taken longer than originally anticipated. When it signed the order contract with the airline, then known as Crossair, Embraer guaranteed it could certify the 170 for the 5.5-degree approach angle into LCY from Geneva. Now targeted for completion by the middle of next year, the LCY certification process prompted Embraer to fit the 170 with a set of ventral brakes, permanently locked for initial certification but activated for the steep approach into the noise-sensitive airport.
BTW: a ventral airbrake on the EMB170? Got to see that!!!!
That 5.5 degree approach into LCY is fantastic, everyone should experience it!
At the runway end away from the terminal the aircraft goes into a sharp nose dive approach over the River Thames, and the dive continues until you are just about to land, and then the pilot pulls up just in time. I captured this on video filming with my zoom lens, a Fokker 50 (or two) of VLM landing there, and then flying back from Antwerp the other week I experienced the approach from this side. The approach from the other side is not as steep, but there is alot more sharp turning - I experienced that flying in from Brussels last year.
Sabena and Sobelair - gone but never forgotten.
Louise
Sorry to correct you again, but the approach at both ends is 5.5°, not just at one end. (As wel the 28 as the 10 have the same ILS freq. with the same GS angle)
Technically yes, it is as steep from the other side, but all the turning makes it seem less so. You are turning as you descend when you are approaching to the terminal side, but when approaching over the River you are just in a steep nose dive, which makes it seem more extreme because you are coming in on a more straight run.
It's more psychological, if you know what I mean.
Sabena and Sobelair - gone but never forgotten.
Louise
