Correct forecast?

[Guest hirnwut]

Maybe this was asked before, but I didn't find it with search.For my 744 flights I always use Active Sky 6 and before descent I enter the wind forecast into the FMC. But what I always wanted to know: how do I do this correctly? Which way points do I need to concider?Because I was lazy most of the times, I just entered the FL240, FL180, FL12 and 9000 Winds of the DEST AP. Do I have to consider the descent as calculated by the FMC? Or is there any other useful hint ow to do this?Thanks!@lexPS. A friend of mine, who isn't using active sky, just leaves the forecast entries blank and sometimes gets a "DRAG REQUIERED" message in the FMC. Maybe anyone of you know a website, where he can find actual windspeeds for free?

[Tabs]

Alex,For proper fuel calculation and VNAV performance, you really need all the enroute winds inputed, not just the destination.Read up in the 747 manual's FMC section about the "RTE DATA" and the "DES FORECAST" pages.If you load your flight plan into Active Sky and process it, it'll spit out a sheet that gives you the winds aloft at each waypoint along your route, which is exactly what real pilots get (in addition to ACARS wind downloads).

[Guest hirnwut]

Hi Ryan.Thx for the answer!I read about the implementation of strong head- or tail-winds into the fuel-planing...but must admit: I didn't read much of the FMC-Manual, though I always knew that it's VERY important...Maybe because it's the last chapter of the manual? Just wondering :)But I'll check the recommended chapters of the FMC to learn more about the DES FORECAST.Thx again@lex