Descent and possible shortcut A320
 

Hello everyone,

I’d like a quick advice on the best source to adapt descent in European airspace.
On most arrivals radar vectors are given and then it’s a matter of descent trying to predict the routing. A part from UK, I see trackmiles by ATC are not very reliable, just an help.
in order to plan my descent what’s the best way to estimate trackmiles?
i see there are different variations from PROG Page with the runway: this is quite good on straight in approaches, not really when arriving from base or downwind. I see people using this method tend to arrive low.
ND? Extended centerline?

Sure, look at the prog page, look at the DME, look at the projected track miles, but more importantly, it all comes down to situational awareness, situational awareness and situational awareness. The rest is just adding 1+1+1 and some wind effect.

-if you are coming down on downwind and there is traffic on long final, then it’s not that hard to guess when you will get turned in as number two
-if you are coming down on downwind and there are four aircraft ahead of you on final, then better look up the minimal V/S in the AIP
-if you are numero uno, then your best guess is that you will be turned in not long after passing abeam the G/S intercept, or better yet, you’ll be offered a short approach. 1+1+1=…


With a bit of experience you will quickly get the hang of it. And if you get it wrong, well, there’s always the gear.