Originally Posted by
sfzpilot
Hey guys and gals,
I am an instrument pilot who was flying with BOS_CTR in the Cherokee a a few weeks ago. I heard something like this: Callsign, descend to cross 35 Miles NW of the MHT airport at and maintain 11,000. I was just wondering, do the FMC's cross a DME or do guys create a fix which is defined by the 35 DME? Or do you guys use pen and paper like the old days?
Thanks so much!
I often get this type of crossing restriction coming into ABQ. I know where I am in relation to the airport (using a wypt for the airport) and make sure that I am at whatever altitude they assigned prior (basically pen and paper like you say). The trick in my airplane comes from the descent profile. Do I figure out a nice long near idle descent or just dive and drive at the last moment? Hummmm....decisions, decisions. I can't wait to get my hands on some of that descent profile FMS type stuff those fancy airplanes have in them!
USMCFLYR