Minimum Rate of Descent
As an aviation enthusiast, I've been pondering the following question for a while now and wonder if anyone could enlighten me.
If a plane is asked to descend by ATC much earlier than planned (say 100nm), is the pilot required to descend at a minimum rate (like 1000 fpm)? For the sake of fuel economy I can see that an airline would want a plane to stay at the most efficient flight level for as long as possible, but ATC, of course, has its own agenda, primarily safety and logistics. So there must be some legal minimum rate. If any real world pilot can enlighten me I'd be very grateful.
Thanks,
Matt