AnthonyGA
29th Apr 2009, 20:23
If you are nearing the top of your descent, at some point you must dial down the altitude constraint in the MCP to allow the descent. Normally, I presume that ATC will clear you to a lower altitude, and you'll put this altitude in the MCP. But if ATC says "cleared to descend via the XXX arrival," meaning that you can follow the arrival down with the published constraints (which are presumably already programmed into your FMS), what altitude do you put in the MCP? Do you just set it to zero, or do you put it below the altitude where you expect to be when you start your ILS approach (if applicable), or what?
In my sim I'm never sure what to set it to when I'm cleared to descend via a published arrival, so usually I set it no lower than terrain between me and my destination airport, or below the altitude at which I expect to become established on the glide slope for landing. But is there a better, more coherent policy for setting the MCP altitude? Or perhaps a formal regulation/policy that says how to set it?
In my sim I'm never sure what to set it to when I'm cleared to descend via a published arrival, so usually I set it no lower than terrain between me and my destination airport, or below the altitude at which I expect to become established on the glide slope for landing. But is there a better, more coherent policy for setting the MCP altitude? Or perhaps a formal regulation/policy that says how to set it?