Quote FO BLOGGS "The crux of what he is saying, and I agree is- you need to have something to increase situational awareness when you dont have a flash ND, and having a fix that references distance to go to the field so that one can easily calculate descent profiling surely is the way to go."
Who cares what happens half way down the approach?
Descent planning is about the start point and the end point.
For the YLHR RWY 12 RNAV(GNSS) approach the descent point is 1.7 prior to LHRWF and the angle is 3.49 degrees. Work off your GS and you have a rate of descent that keeps you above the steps.
Get it wrong or don't do it at all for an RNAV approach or an ILS or an NDB?DME or a VOR/DME and "DEATH COMES UNEXPECTEDLY", unfortunatley not just for the pilot who made the mistake, but everyone else on board.