Altitude Alerter SOPs during approach
 

Hello everyone I wanted some feedback on altitude alerter use during the approach phase...

Specially involving step down approaches and maybe in mountaineous terrain or with obstacles. The way I had been trained and flown with a lot of older guys involved leaving the altitude alerter to just prior a fix and the PF calling "set next altitude" and the PNF setting the next altitude. and the PF then calling "FIX name leaving #### for ####"

I have been with some captains now that drive down to an altitude and request the next altitude 5 miles or more ahead of the next step down point. That obviously takes the Magenta bars of your altitude (on EFIS) which already has lead to a couple of the guys starting decents early because they forget that we are not at the decent point and me saying something like "hey, where are you going, not yet!" specially when they are hand flying.....

Feedback would be nice on this, my current company doesnt have good SOPs (sigh)

CEF
Pilot
Learjet 60

We set it (non efis) when cleared to descend. If you are cleared after a fix, then you are not cleared to descend until that fix is reached, therefore alerter gets set at the fix, not before. Our SOPs are no where near perfect either, so I feel your pain.

alerters
 

Stick with what the old guys do, it is safe and correct, that is why they are old guys