I'm looking for opinions on descent rates in small GA props. Lancair, Cessnas, Mooneys, Barons, Twin cessnas etc...And I'm thinking about realism, ie passenger comfort. I'm rated yes but to tell the truth I never paid attention to the VSI flying VFR... I'd imagine anywhere between -500 fpm and -1000fpm at the very most. What are the pilots doing these days?I'm posting because I realized what a horrible sim pilot I am. Sometimes I'll dive it in at -1500 or even -2000fpm with a forward slip + flaps and I'm thinking that would blow some ear drums :(

Its very rare that I descend at more than 1000ft/min in my humble C152. Usually between 600ft/min and 800ft/min!ThanksMartyn

Thanks! This will really change how high I go in cruise... TOD will come very far out with a -600fpm descent hehe.

Thanks! This will really change how high I go in cruise... TOD will come very far out with a -600fpm descent hehe.

A low ROD with some power on is also much better for the engine as to prevent shock cooling when doing an idle descent.Pressurized GA planes also need power to keep the pressurization up.Even the CRJ needed quite a lot of power to keep the wing and engine anti-ice working.Less than 400fpm is not advisable because the Xpndr doesn't show a descent arrow at the ATC monitor below that AFAIKBTW, a nice thing about the Super Cub was that you could bring herinto knife edge attitude after the glider was released, and keep quite some power on despite the incredible ROD!Much nicer for the engine during glider towing...

Less than 400fpm is not advisable because the Xpndr doesn't show a descent arrow at the ATC monitor below that AFAIK

Thanks for the info. Regarding this point - I assume you're speaking of FSX ATC hehe?While we're on the topic of descents. Is it still a recommendation to drop 1" of MP for every min for a descent? If so that seems very slow and in that case I again, need to plan my descent much more carefully. Normally what I do is chop the throttle to around 15MP (usually the bottom of the green arc) right away.

Thanks for the info. Regarding this point - I assume you're speaking of FSX ATC hehe?While we're on the topic of descents. Is it still a recommendation to drop 1" of MP for every min for a descent? If so that seems very slow and in that case I again, need to plan my descent much more carefully. Normally what I do is chop the throttle to around 15MP (usually the bottom of the green arc) right away.

'rumors' say that the 400fpm limit applies to real ATC, is it wrong?Don't know aboutthe 1MP/min reduction.

Yeah...If a plane is in a descent, our radar will depict it (as long as their mode C is on). We get an altitude readout on the data tag, and it will just slowly decrease.Now if an aircraft's speed is very slow, the Moving Target Indicator (function of the ASR), will filter that plane out (because it thinks it's a stationary target - this is one of the ways we can cut out on all the ground clutter on the scope). Sometimes this phenomenon happens with helicopters when they have a nasty headwind... I believe it's less than 20 kts or so...This is all in a terminal environment - I'm not exactly sure about ARTCC (en route) radar - as I know they usually update about 12 seconds and take a composite picture from multiple radar sites. An ARTCC's beacon (secondary ASR, the part that talks to the plane's transponder) would then refresh in the same time I'd imagine. Nonetheless it would still report altitude properly, even in the slowest descent.