Alternative model for ILS approach

[quasipedia]

One of the testers wrote to me:

It would be useful to allow the combination of LAND and SPEED commands

This is indeed a possibility, and I am looking forward for suggestions. At the moment the approach happens in 4 phases, and each of them must be successfully concluded for the plane to pass to the next one. The plane will abort the landing if it will find itself unable to complete any of the phases.

1. INTERCEPTING - The plane keeps current heading, altitude and speed and waits for the right moment to turn into the ILS projection on the ground (in other words: to be aligned with the runway --> same heading, foot of the runway straight ahead). The plane aborts if the ILS doesn't pass in front of its nose, or if the plane itself is too close to veer into the ILS (it would overshoot it)
2. MERGING - The plane maintain speed and altitude and veer into the ILS projection.
3. MATCHING - The plane maintain heading and speed, and adjust altitude to precisely fly along the ILS vector (the line starting from the foot of the runway and going up at 3° angle. The plane aborts if the plane is flying above the ILS and its speed is too high to lose altitude quick enough to intercept the ILS vector before the runway.
4. GLIDING - The plane follows the ILS vector maintaining speed until the moment comes to slow down to landing speed. The plane abort if at the beginning of the glide its speed is already too big for it to slow down to landing speed before the foot of the runway.

[quasipedia]

Speed is the main source of frustration during landing. As it also influences the rate of descent of planes (which is constant relative to time, not to distance). On the other hand, landing is one of the key difficulties in the game, and making it too easy means taking away a big part of the challenge.

The possibilities I envisage to combine SPEED and LAND commands are the following:

The aeroplane change its speed first, and then initiate the approach. Doesn't make much sense to me: the player could achieve the same result by queuing with:

ABC1234 SPEED HHH
. ABC 1234 LAND AAA RR[R]

The aeroplane changes speed while approaching. Maybe. I wonder if this would make things too much easier for the player: after all the game is all about thinking ahead, including thinking to slow down planes before you need to land them.

The aeroplane changes speed once aligned. This seems a kind of logical/acceptable compromise. It would allow the player to establish a "gliding speed", and this would make easier to maintain separation when more than one plane is gliding on the same ILS.

The aeroplane doesn't indeed accept a speed/land combo, but adjust autonomously the speed. This would work by essentially making the plane alter its own speed already during the matching phase rather than the gliding one (effectively diminishing drastically the chances of aborting in either phase 3 or 4). But again... my concern is that it might prove than too then to land planes (one could slam a supersonic jet at Mach 2 into landing and let the autopilot save the day...).

I'm looking forward to feedback on these proposals, as well as I am open to alternative suggestions!