A B737-300 captain found it necessary to accelerate from his standard cruise speed in order to compl...

Attributes
ACN	1066553
Time
Date	201302
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZDV.ARTCC
State Reference	CO
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-300
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Descent
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 53 Flight Crew Type 26000
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Speed All Types

Narrative:

We were cleared to descend via kohoe one RNAV arrival. I had updated the descent page on the FMC to increase the descent speed to 280 KTS. 74/280 KTS was entered on the speed line. Approaching herng; I noticed that we were at .74M (265 KTS) prior to the speed changeover. I advanced the throttles to compensate; but we were about 10 KTS slow at herng. Subsequently; I was able to keep the speed up until the speed crossover point where we were programmed for 280 KTS.an RNAV arrival should not require an acceleration to a greater than normal cruise speed at the top of descent. I guesstimate that to show 280 KTS at herng; I would have to program .78M or greater to get 280 KTS on the indicated side. Is that what is really wanted? How far in advance of herng should I switch from econ cruise to .78M or greater?

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737-300 Captain found it necessary to accelerate from his standard cruise speed in order to comply with the crossing airspeed required at HERNG while descending via the KOHOE RNAV STAR to DEN.

Narrative: We were cleared to descend VIA KOHOE ONE RNAV Arrival. I had updated the Descent page on the FMC to increase the descent speed to 280 KTS. 74/280 KTS was entered on the speed line. Approaching HERNG; I noticed that we were at .74M (265 KTS) prior to the speed changeover. I advanced the throttles to compensate; but we were about 10 KTS slow at HERNG. Subsequently; I was able to keep the speed up until the speed crossover point where we were programmed for 280 KTS.An RNAV arrival should not require an acceleration to a greater than normal cruise speed at the Top of Descent. I guesstimate that to show 280 KTS at HERNG; I would have to program .78M or greater to get 280 KTS on the indicated side. Is that what is really wanted? How far in advance of HERNG should I switch from econ cruise to .78M or greater?

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

A B737-300 captain found it necessary to accelerate from his standard cruise speed in order to comply with the crossing airspeed required at herng while descending via the kohoe RNAV STAR to den.