im trying to learn when to descend :) taa

I am not sure I understand the question.............

There is some general rule be at 3000 ft (AGL) at 10 miles.AGL = Above Grould Level

im trying to learn when to descend :) taa

Rate of descent ia another thing.A general rule isStart of descent = 3 x altitude to loseRate of descent 1/2 groundspeed. or 5% descend (gs * 5.) (There are other factors: speed, altitude, aicraft type, type of descent)

if you are at...say..6000ft, times this by 3, 18,000ft, drop the zero's, 18.Start decent 18 miles from the airport.Or if your at 23,000, and want to decent to 2000ft...subtract the altitude you want to be at ( 23,000 - 2,000 = 21,000)again multiply by 3, 63,000...drop the zero's..start decent 63 miles from the aiport.Its not how its done in real world but its close enough for flying games.

Hmmm :-)Just think about it (and joking)If you are at 10000 feet , multiply by 3 = 30 000 , drop the zero's -> 3 start descent 3 miles from airport ... do I miss something So multiply by 3 , drop 3 zeros, you're doneHappy Flyings (in FSX)Pierre10 000 feet / 1000 = 10 , multiply by 3 = 30 miles

That formula works more for jets - it's not going to take you 18 miles to descend 6000 feet in any of the planes in flight.If you're in the RV and descending at about 1000 feet per minute that's 6 minutes. If you're flying at 120 kts, that's 2 miles per minute so a grand total of 12 milesyou can make adjustments as you see fit. If you want a slower descent you can set power for about 500 feet per minute and then you're distance shoots up to 24 miles. Just remember the formula depends on how you're descending.

if you are at...say..6000ft, times this by 3, 18,000ft, drop the zero's, 18.Start decent 18 miles from the airport.Or if your at 23,000, and want to decent to 2000ft...subtract the altitude you want to be at ( 23,000 - 2,000 = 21,000)again multiply by 3, 63,000...drop the zero's..start decent 63 miles from the aiport.Its not how its done in real world but its close enough for flying games.

So in a nutshell.... you're saying 3 NM for every 1000 ft?

Hmmm :-)Just think about it (and joking)If you are at 10000 feet , multiply by 3 = 30 000 , drop the zero's -> 3 start descent 3 miles from airport ... do I miss somethingSo multiply by 3 , drop 3 zeros, you're doneHappy Flyings (in FSX)Pierre10 000 feet / 1000 = 10 , multiply by 3 = 30 miles

:lol: :dance:

So in a nutshell.... you're saying 3 NM for every 1000 ft?

Well in a nutshell yes thats what i saying.

As stated above, easy way: Gs=120 kt / descent rate = 500 ft/minSo you do: (Altitude /1000) x 4 (4= (120/60)x(1000/500))Basically, if you want to loose 10,000 ft, you start your descent 40 Nm before. Easy :)

i prefer the 'put the numbers into the fms' approach to descent planning to be honest.but failing that, i use the 3x distance to go as detailed above for ToD. and 5x g/s to give fpm. bear in mind if you let the a/c accelerate in the descent your speed will increase, thus necessitating an increase in vs

bear in mind if you let the a/c accelerate in the descent your speed will increase

This is why you first trim the aircraft for your desired descent speed during level flight, then reduce the throttle to get your desired vertical speed without changing the trim.Hook

I prefer to take the Stearman to the runway threshold, put it in a spin and pull the nose up before the houses get too big.It's a whole lot more fun and I don't have to mess around with all that confusing math, hehehe.regards,Joe

This is why you first trim the aircraft for your desired descent speed during level flight, then reduce the throttle to get your desired vertical speed without changing the trim.Hook

in a commercial operation you definately dont. and i would imagine any time you are actually planning a descent you would be wanting to go as fast as possible anyway within reason. time is money.i doubt that even would work that well, you would probably have to retrim anyway due to the horizontal stabiliser being less effective and producing a reduced downforce thus lowering the nose even further and increasing the speed. even in basic ppl level flying you first reduce the power then attitude, then trim. because otherwise unless you want to climb or use your cruise speed to descend at then it aint going to work

I haven't done this in real life, but I do it a lot in FSX.Part of my descent profile is to power back one inch of manifold pressure per minute until I'm back from crusing speed to descent speed, to prevent shock cooling. Basically, I add 2 miles per inch of manifold pressure (whatever I've calculated as the proper MP for descent speed) to my planned descent. Once I'm down from 160 or whatever to about 130, and with my plane trimmed for that speed, I throttle back. The plane remains at that speed during descent because of the trim, and I set the throttle to give about 700 feet per minute descent rate. As I descent, the throttle has to be adjusted.Now, these numbers might be a little off, as I haven't messed with FSX in quite a while (except for a helicopter, which is totally different), but I did a heck of a lot of research before coming up with them. And this method works quite well in Flight.Hook