Calculating Top of Climb and Top of Descent - SPC Day 27

I hate when I see students neglect to calculate Top of Climb (TOC) and Top of Descent (TOD), so often we just put in where we’re going and press enter. Following the pink line may get you there, but do you have the skillset and information to fall back on if something happens?

[stevecalder]

Perfect timing for these videos Jason - I’m getting ready to take my check ride - your videos are VERY helpful! Thank you!

[gabrielvazquez]

I was never taught to calculate top of decent into my flight planning. Thank you very much for the lesson.

[chuckblazevich]

Good stuff Jason. One comment I'll make. You mentioned calculating this the old fashioned way, which I think is important to maintain an understanding of it. Couple this with a comment you made in one of your earlier videos about the importance of good planning before a flight, and what I find you end up with is improved situational awareness which leads to greater safety and comfort while flying. Before flying, I still pull out the old cross country paper sheet, mark my checkpoints, and do all of the associated calculations, not because I have to (I can get this via Foreflight) but because I find it forces me to think thru planning in a more detailed manner. Then, when I get into the air, I feel like there are fewer surprises, or things to figure out/think about - and it's a great cross check on the technology in the cockpit. Some people look at this as overkill but for myself I find it important to my overall feeling of being prepared and feeling good about what I'm doing. Thanks for your videos, they are excellent and really making a difference in improving pilot safety (and help me get thru the dreary winter days here up North!).

[mathiasdaflyest]

This was the video I definitely needed. For my cross country flight plan thanks Jason! 🛩

[kolbyhays]

It usually averages out, so I believe most pilots ignore it, but it’s also worth considering the difference between your airspeed and ground speed will change regardless of the winds because on a descent at an angle you’re traveling a greater distance from point a to point, unlike when at cruise. So if you want to maintain a groundspeed during a descent your TAS will increase.

[MattyCrayon]

Just been practicing this in prep for a navigation endorsement check ride soon. On the TOD I was told to plan down to the circuit height +500 for fly over. I got caught out on my last duel nav though. I flew higher than usual and didn't calculate the amount of time needed to get to the overfly height soon enough. Ended up having to descend at 1000fpm, which caused me to get distracted and I busted the overfly height. Lesson learned. 👍 Thanks for the great overview and all the SPC videos.

[lpainter]

I haven’t watched everyday but I’ve watched every episode. Thanks for the videos

[cpy]

Interesting, instead of estimating a 500 ft/min descent, I use the rule of 3:1
3:1 rule of descent is that 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) of travel should be allowed for every 1, 000 feet (300 m) of descent

[fdcap]

In addition to figuring out when I will be at TOC, I alway look for a really good landmark to ensure that when I pass over it, I am where I hoped I'd be! Especially with TOD, it's great to have a physical landmark to know when to begin your descent.

[aviatorcrafty]

Throws me back to my initial flight training days. Haven't flown power in a few months since I've been learning how to fly gliders, where your TOD is when you release from the towplane

[ShaneMallon]

Thanks for the helpful video, I have been looking into interpolation as far as winds are concerned so for me it was a well timed video. It does leave me with a question or two though, my second question I believe would make a great video topic as I have yet to find one.
Firstly in this example you used the ground wind and the winds at 3000. But you are climbing to 4500. Should another interpolation be made after 3000 to cover the last 1500? Or is that pointless?
Second question. I asked a cfi about winds aloft interpolation accuracy na few weeks back and part of his answer was “ And do keep in mind the forecast is to get a general sense of winds and a reasonable estimate of time/speed/distance so you can plan for fuel, and the real calculations will take place in flight” I have not found a video covering corrections to calculations once underway. Would love some information on that subject. I know not really a question but anyway, thanks for all the videos you do

[grantmcasey]

A more accurate way of getting your ground speed during a climb is if you go into your Aircrafts POH and look at the time, fuel, distance climb chart, you get the time and the distance and do distance divided by time x 60.

Example: I want to climb from sea level to 6500.
I look at my POH and see from 0 - 65 it’s 11 minutes and 16 miles. I do 16 divide by 11 x 60 = 87kts for your climb before account for wind.

[dankiley]

Almost caught up! I just posted a question about this on the MzeroA Nation page. After some studying the past few days and the help of this video I've had a lightbulb come on in my learning! I just didn't want to settle to let ForeFlight come up with the numbers for me. I want to know where and why the numbers are the way they are. This really just reinforced what I've learned the last few days and will really help me as I continue my IFR training! I will and am determined to finish all 31 days!

[jonathanschnell]

27 for 27! Enjoying the series. Thanks, Jason!

[MrBrandonbautista]

perfect timing :D commercial checkride tomorrow thanks man your awesome

[ErelasInglor]

I haven't gotten this far in training, so this is a bit confusing for me as to what the purpose is of knowing these numbers? If we know the winds at cruise altitude as reported and can still maintain our cruise speed and heading what are the (TOC/TOD) numbers for exactly? (Pardon the pun but I think this just went over my head). Sorry if this is a very basic and "no duh" seeming question/answer.

[RaceMentally]

I’m so confused. I’m screwed on this check ride. Paid for your coarse too and no one to help or respond. Waste of money for someone like myself.

[markfacer]

I've made it this far! TOC and TOD: I needed a refresher for my Commercial Check Ride (hopefully coming soon).

[johnfitzpatrick]

G, day MzeroA.com from Sydney, Australia.
Flight planning/TOC/TOD
*Firstly, I'm unsure if that is the industry abreviations for: top of climb and top of decent?
* I would be reaching for my E6B cardboard computer.
* I'm thinking of the average wind speed, the direction of wind affecting plane vector and the corrective "crab angle" to fly the direct vector.
* I'm thinking about the rate of climb, engine power, air density and temperature.
* I need to practice with a WAC and an E6B.
Thank you, sir
🇭🇲🌏
*

[ericholt]

Do you always use Vy as your descent speed as well? I descend at cruise speed and just pull power back enough to give me a 500 fpm descent.
If not cruise speed then I’ll slow to pattern speed during my descent, depending on where I’m going (towered, untowered, existing traffic, etc).