VNAV 101 | TURBINE PILOT | Putting precision in ‘dive and drive’ BY NEIL SINGER is one of the challenges transitioning pilots frequently struggle with. In both the terminal and en route environments, preventing excessive energy build-up, in the form of potential energy (too high) or kinetic energy (too fast), is an important task. Because the groundspeeds and altitudes typical of jet flight are so much greater than those encountered in propeller-driven aircraft, staying on top of en route descent profiles requires proactive planning. As an illustration of the numbers involved, a typical light jet flying at 41,000 feet in a 100-knot tailwind, and wanting to execute a 1,000-foot-perminute descent, would need to begin descending 300 miles from its destination—a lot farther away than where many new jet pilots are starting to think about descending. E NERGY MANAGEMENT IN JET AIRCRAFT PHOTOGRAPHY BY MIKE FIZER T–10 | AOPA PILOT June 2012