737 FMC help

[Andayle 47]

Hiya allI'm loving the 737 at the moment but have one minor problem I cant seem to figure out. I use radar contact 4 for my ATC and they often tell me to decend to FL11 but I have to be at that altitude before 40 miles from the point they tell me. I know in the legs page on the FMC I can set altitudes and speeds but how do I set an altitude restriction when there is no waypoint 40 miles out. I have looked through the FMC manual and looked through the various tutorials but cant find any help.Anyone know how to assign this type of restriction?Many thanksDean Farley

[RPRIEVER 52]

Dean,This situation is covered in the highly recommended Timothy Metzinger 737 tutorial. The solution is to first add an appropriate waypoint. The format is WAYPOINT/MILES BEFORE OR AFTER THAT WAYPOINT. So, as an example, if they tell you to cross 40 miles prior to "GUMBY" at 11000, first thing is to create a new waypoint for that "40 miles before GUMBY" If "GUMBY" is already a programmed waypoint in your FMC, you can go to the legs page, press the LSK key next to GUMBY which will move it to the scratchpad, and then add "/-40". Otherwise, you'll need to add the new waypoint like you would any other. The scratchpad should now say "GUMBY/-40" Then, you can insert that new waypoint into the legs page. In this case, you would insert it after the waypoint that is preceding GUMBY (since it is a point before GUMBY). It'll show up as GUMBY01. Then, you can enter the crossing restriction for that new waypoint. Don't forget to execute it!! :-)Obviously, if the new waypoint is after the existing one, then you'd enter "GUMBY/20", or whatever the distance is. Hope this helpsRon

[Andayle 47]

Hehe, I just found that tutorial you mentioned and finished reading exactly the part im looking for.Many thanks for taking the time to explain the procedure. much appreciated.

[RPRIEVER 52]

Dean,No problem. It's nice to know that for once I was giving the answers instead of asking questions. Ron