how many nautical miles from airport do you start the descent, lets say im flying 777-200 at 300kts andt at 32000ft....how many nautical miles do i start descent? (normal descent is -2200 rite?)cheersNick

Well, I know there are all kinds of fancy formulas, but I use a simple one that works every single time. At 310 knots above 10k and 250 below, I use 3.5 miles for every 1000 ft to descend at 1800 feet per minute. In your case, (if the airport is at sea level) you have to loose 32,000 ft. 32 x 3.5 = 112 miles from the airport I start my descent. This will allow me to have a constant descent to final and touch down. A simple way that works for me.Harry

Hi,Besides the formula Harry gave you there's also this rule of thumb:FL/3 +/- 10nm for tailwind/headwind correctionSo FL320 would mean appr. 105nm +/- 10nm windcorrection.

Back when MS provided detailed manuals with the sim there was a simple rule of thumb that works well and that is to drop the last 3 zeros from the FL and multiply by 3. FL320 would be 96 miles out. Based on the different results in the 3 "rules of thumb" given, I'd say it's pretty much a wild-#### guess!

Just wait for ATC to tell you to start your descent! I normaly find that I'm aprox 100nm out of my destination when they tell me to descend. Vertical speed will vary from aircraft to aircraft, but 2000ft is normaly a good average if you're flying a medium to large/heavy. If you fly something like the PMDG 737 or PSS Airbus, then the autopilot syatems will indicate Top Of Descent (TOD) on the flight path displayed on the Nav/HSI screen, and will automatically adjust vertical speed as you descend.