their descent.  During the cruise and descent phases of flight, pilots  need to monitor and manage the aircraft according to  the appropriate manufacturer’s recommendations. Flight  manuals and operating handbooks contain cruise and  descent checklists, performance charts for specific cruise  configurations, and descent charts that provide information  regarding the fuel, time, and distance required to descend.  Aircrews should review this information prior to the  departure of every flight so they have an understanding of  how the aircraft is supposed to perform at cruise and during  descent. A stabilized descent constitutes a preplanned  maneuver in which the power is properly set, and minimum  control input is required to maintain the appropriate  descent path. Excessive corrections or control inputs  indicate the descent was improperly planned. Plan the IFR  descent from cruising altitude so that the aircraft arrives at  the approach gate altitude or initial approach fix altitude  prior to beginning the instrument approach. For example,  suppose you are asked to descend from 11,000 feet to  meet a crossing restriction at 3,000 feet. [Figure 3-8] Since  there is a 200 knot speed restriction while approaching  the destination airport, you choose a descent speed of  190 knots and a descent rate of 1,000 fpm. Assuming a 10  knot headwind component, groundspeed in the descent  is 180 knots.  Making the transition from cruise flight to the beginning  of an instrument approach procedure sometimes requires  arriving at a given waypoint at an assigned altitude. When  this requirement is prescribed by a published arrival  procedure or issued by ATC, it is called a crossing restriction.  Even when ATC allows a descent at the pilot’s discretion,  below 10,000 feet MSL is not included on the chart, since its  effect is minimal. Also, the effect of temperature or weight  variation is negligible and is therefore omitted.  Due to the increased flight deck workload, pilots should  get as much done ahead of time as possible. As with the  climb and cruise phases of flight, aircrews should consult  the proper performance charts to compute their fuel  requirements, as well as the time and distance needed for  3-8  Figure 3-8. The descent planning task.  Figure 3-7. Jet descent task.  Descending From the En Route Altitude  Wind  Top-of-descent point  Bottom-of-descent point  ECA VOR  Cruising altitude  ft 0 0 0 1 1  Assigned altitude  ft 0 0 0 3  Cruising speed  knots 0 7 2  Descent speed and rate  knots @ 1,000 fpm 0 8 1  Pressure Altitude  (1,000 feet)  Note: Subtract 30 lb of fuel and 36 seconds for each  1,000 feet that the destination airport is above sea level  Time  (minutes)  Fuel  (pounds)  Distance  (NM)  39  37  35  33  31  29  27  25  23  21  19  17  15  10  5  20  19  18  17  16  15  14  13  12  11  10  10  9  6  3  850  800  700  650  600  600  550  550  500  500  450  450  400  300  150  124  112  101  92  86  80  74  68  63  58  52  46  41  26  13  NOTE:  .80/280  SAMPLE NOT FOR ACTUAL USE  4 3 2 5 1 