Inventing a GPS waypoint for a DP?

In article ,
Stan Gosnell me@work wrote:

Roy Smith wrote in
:

The ODP out of MMK for runway 36 reads, "climbing left turn
to 1800 via 325° bearing from MMK NDB before proceeding on
course".

It seems to me that the easiest way to fly that with a GPS
would be to create a user waypoint which is a 325 bearing,
20 (or whatever) mile offset from MMK NDB and insert that
into your flight plan before the first real waypoint in
your clearance. Take off, track to the user waypoint until
reaching 1800, then do "direct" to the next waypoint. Can
anybody think of a good reason not to do it that way?

The easiest way on the GPS I use is to bring up MMK, then select
325 degrees from, and then keep the needle centered. No need
for another waypoint. After reaching 1800, just go direct to
the first waypoint.

Several people have suggested this, and I've come to realize they (and
you) are right. My "make up a waypoint" idea was really driven by an
attempt to use those parts of the box I knew and avoid learning the rest
of it. Bad on me.

Roy Smith wrote in
:

Several people have suggested this, and I've come to
realize they (and you) are right. My "make up a waypoint"
idea was really driven by an attempt to use those parts of
the box I knew and avoid learning the rest of it. Bad on
me.

I think it's worth the effort to learn everything about the box.
You never know when you might need some obscure feature. I use
the "make up a waypoint" method a lot, when flying OSAP
(Offshore Standard Approach Procedure) approaches offshore. We
get the wind, then make up a waypoint directly downwind of our
destination, using distance/bearing from the destination, to use
as an IAF. It works, but the GPS tends to build up lots of
cryptic waypoint identifiers that mean nothing to anyone. There
are lots of A and AA user waypoints, simply because that's the
easiest thing to do quickly. I would prefer not to do it this
way, but that's what the ops specs specify.

--
Regards,

Stan