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MY FS FLIGHTS
Flight Score
Know your rotation speed
See Departure Roll
A typical trainer rotates in the mid-50s of knots - a 172 at around 55 KIAS, climbing out at a Vy in the low 70s, though check your own POH rather than memorising Cessna's numbers - and the transferable rule is that Vr sits just above the stall speed in takeoff configuration. Rotate early because "it felt ready" and the aircraft lifts off inside ground effect, where induced drag is reduced, then climbs out of it into more drag. On a marginal-performance day the result is an aircraft that lifts off and then refuses to climb, sagging back towards the runway.
Read more in Improve Your Take-OffsStart to finish · 14 stages, 13 in the score
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From brake release to the end of the climb, against time, then the takeoff point by point.
Lifted off at 130 kt with 0.8° of pitch.
Two traces from brake release: the airspeed on top, and below it the pitch, which is how far the nose is above the horizon. The figure at liftoff is the pitch then. The shaded stretch is Climb 3, the part of the climb scored on holding the climb speed.
The takeoff, point by point
Side view from the start of the roll to the end of Climb 3 at 1,035 ft. The distance scale changes past the runway end.
Reached 35 ft with 410 m of runway left; then climbing at 2,290 fpm on average to 1,035 ft.
The takeoff from the side: the height above the runway against the distance along it. The numbers along the runway are the speeds reached at each point. Lifting off in the amber last quarter of the runway costs marks for the roll length. The shaded stretch is Climb 3, scored on its average speed against the target.
Plan view the roll down the 1,230 m runway.
Rolled from 41 m in, drifted right of the centreline, 3.6 m at the widest, and lifted off 3.8 m right. Airborne 37 % of the way down the runway, before the 75 % line.
The roll from above, with your left at the top. The line is where the wheels went, and "widest" is the furthest you drifted off the centreline. Lifting off before the amber 75 % line gets full marks for the roll length.
The final from 4 nm.
Profile height against the 3° glideslope, with its 2° band in green.
Inside the glideslope band from 4 nm to the threshold, never more than 270 ft above the slope.
Your height above the runway against the distance still to go. The glideslope is the steady descent path to the aiming point, 305 m past the threshold: 3° here, which is about 320 ft for every nautical mile out, crossing the threshold at about 50 ft. The row under the distances is the height it puts you at. Inside the green band your path is drawn green; outside it, amber.
Plan distance off the extended centreline, your left at the top, with the 1° band. Sideways distances are drawn 3× larger than distances along the final.
Outside the 1° band 3 times; furthest 413 m right at 4.0 nm.
Looking down from above, flying left to right towards the runway: up the page is left of the centreline, down is right. Sideways distances are stretched so that small drifts show, so a line that looks wild here may be only a few tens of feet. The labels are how far off you were at each distance, amber when outside the band.
Speed against the approach speed. The green band runs from 5 kt slow to 78 kt fast at the 1,000 ft gate, closing to 48 at 500 ft and 10 at the threshold.
Fast from 4 nm to 1.8 nm (up to +127 kt), then inside the band to 0.5 nm, then fast to the threshold (up to +24 kt).
Your indicated airspeed down the final, against the approach speed for this aircraft at its landing weight. The band allows 5 kt slow and more on the fast side further out, closing as you get lower, because the speed is expected to come off on the way down. The figures are knots above (+) or below (−) the approach speed.
Over the threshold
Touchdown
13 kt across from the left, which takes about 8° of crab to hold the centreline at 90 kt. Touched down straight - the crab taken out before the wheels touched, wings level.
Wind 171° at 11 kt · 2 kt head · 13 kt across
The wind is the one recorded at the landing, split along the runway (headwind or tailwind) and across it. To hold the centreline in a crosswind the nose points a little into wind - the crab - and is straightened with rudder just before the wheels touch, often with the into-wind wing lowered to stop the drift. These are the nose against the direction you were actually moving, and the wings, at the moment of touchdown. Shown for reading; not marked.
Side view — the last 1,524 m of the approach.
Crossed the threshold at 61 ft, 11 ft above the 50 ft target. Touched down 676 m in, 371 m past the ideal 305 m.
The last stretch of the approach and the touchdown, from the side. The height is stretched so that the last few feet show: 80 ft top to bottom, against 1,524 m across. The dashed line is the ideal, 50 ft over the threshold and down 305 m in. The flare ring is where you began raising the nose, and "descent slowed" is where the sink came off; the figures beside them are the sink rate, pitch and speed at that point.
Sink and pitch — through the flare, lined up with the side view.
The sink went from 810 fpm at 58 ft to 210 fpm at touchdown. The nose came up 3.7° on the way down.
Lined up with the side view above, so a point on one sits under the same point of the other. On top, how fast you were coming down: 0 is level, and −600 is 600 ft a minute down. Below, the pitch. In a flare the nose comes up and the descent slows towards 0. The figure at the touchdown line is your touchdown rate.
Plan view — the first 1,524 m of the 2,795 m runway, to the same scale as the side view.
Touched down 4.2 m right of the centreline, and stayed about there down the rollout, 6 m left at the widest.
The runway from above, with your left at the top. Touching down inside the green bracket scores full marks for the distance. The shaded part is the rollout, up to where it ended. The arrow beside the runway is the crosswind, pointing the way the air was moving, so it pushed the aircraft that way.
Touched down 676 m past the threshold — beyond the full-score zone. The 1.19 G arrival bounced.
The rest of the report
The flight began with a departure roll from runway 18 at EDFB Reichelsheim Airfield, where the aircraft, a PC21, took off with a takeoff distance of 482 meters, which accounted for 39% of the runway. The liftoff speed was 131 knots. At the time of departure, the local weather conditions were characterized by a temperature of 12 degrees Celsius and a wind speed of 14 knots from a direction of 180 degrees, resulting in a headwind of 14 knots and no crosswind.
As the aircraft climbed to a higher altitude, it began its enroute climb from 1,501 feet above sea level (asl) to 2,538 ft asl, an increase of 1,037 feet in just 2 minutes, covering a distance of 9 nautical miles. The climb took place over the town of Florstadt in Hessen, Germany. Following the climb, the aircraft initiated its enroute descent from 2,530 ft asl to 1,240 ft asl, a decrease of 1,290 feet in 2 minutes, also covering 9 nautical miles. The descent occurred over the town of Bad Vilbel in Hessen, Germany.
The final approach to runway 25R at EDDF Frankfurt Airport was made from the east, with the aircraft heading 255.0 degrees at a distance of 3 nautical miles and an altitude of 881 feet above ground level (agl). The landing on runway 25R, which had a length of 2,795 meters, was characterized by a threshold height that was above the target, and a threshold speed that was well above the target at 106 knots. The touchdown point was 240 meters beyond the touchdown zone, with a touchdown speed of 90 knots, which was considered good. However, the touchdown rate was fair at -208 feet per minute.
The runway touchdown position was slightly misaligned by 4.8 meters from the centerline. The local weather conditions at the time of landing were characterized by a temperature of 11 degrees Celsius and a wind speed of 10 knots from a direction of 171 degrees, resulting in a crosswind of 10 knots and a headwind of 2 knots. The total landing distance was 1,143 meters, which accounted for 41% of the runway. The runway rollout alignment was very good.
Following the landing, the aircraft taxied to the parking area from the runway, taking 1 minute and covering a distance of less than 1 nautical mile. The total flight distance was 23 nautical miles, and the flight duration was 8 minutes. The aircraft used 24 kilograms of fuel during the flight.
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