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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 · 15 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 94 kt with 4.1° 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 1,154 ft. The distance scale changes past the runway end.
Reached 35 ft with 504 m of runway left; then climbing at 1,070 fpm on average to 1,154 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 1,443 m runway.
Rolled from 563 m in, drifted 5 m left of the centreline and was back on it to lift off. Airborne 54 % 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 arrow beside the runway is the crosswind, pointing the way the air was moving, so it pushed the aircraft that way.
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 230 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.
Joined 2,379 m left of the centreline, then inside the band from 0.4 nm to the threshold.
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.
Inside the speed band all the way, between −2 kt and +34 kt on the approach speed of 77 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
5 kt across from the right, which takes about 5° of crab to hold the centreline at 63 kt. Touched down straight - the crab taken out before the wheels touched, wings level.
Wind 091° at 4 kt · 2 kt tail · 5 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.
From 65 kt at touchdown to taxi speed (30 kt) in 29 s, an average deceleration of 0.07 g.
Your ground speed from the moment the wheels touched until you were down to taxi speed, against the distance rolled. A steep line is hard braking, a shallow one a long, gentle roll. For scale, an airliner's lowest autobrake setting decelerates at about 0.15 g, a medium one about 0.3 g. Shown for reading; not marked.
Side view — the last 1,120 m of the approach.
Crossed the threshold at 21 ft, 29 ft below the 50 ft target. Touched down 240 m in, 65 m short of 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 1,120 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 260 fpm at 20 ft to 50 fpm at touchdown. The nose came up 1.8° 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 full 1,120 m runway, to the same scale as the side view.
Touched down on the centreline, and stayed within 1.8 m of it down the rollout.
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.
The 240 m touchdown sits inside the full-score zone. The arrival was smooth.
The rest of the report
The flight began with the Pesim FPV Drone Racer taxiing from the parking area to the runway at KRNT Renton Municipal Airport, a process that took 2 minutes and covered less than 1 nautical mile. Upon reaching the runway, the drone departed from runway 16, with a takeoff distance of 228 meters, which accounted for 16% of the runway. The liftoff speed was 94 knots.
As the drone climbed into the air, it encountered local weather conditions of 9°C temperature and a 4-knot wind blowing at 90 degrees. The crosswind was 4 knots, while the headwind was negligible. The enroute climb began 1 mile south of Renton, Washington, and involved ascending from an altitude of 1,206 feet above sea level to 8,183 feet above sea level, a total increase of 6,976 feet over a distance of 8 nautical miles in 5 minutes.
Following the climb, the drone entered a level cruise phase, which started 2 miles southeast of Vashon, Washington. This phase lasted for 149 minutes and covered a distance of 354 nautical miles. The drone then began its enroute descent, which started 15 miles southwest of CYJQ Denny Island Airport on Denny Island, British Columbia, Canada. The descent involved a decrease of 8,194 feet in altitude from 8,560 feet above sea level to 367 feet above sea level over a distance of 16 nautical miles in 9 minutes.
The final approach to runway 31 at CBBC Bella Bella (Campbell Island) Airport was made from the southeast, with a heading of 334.0 degrees at an altitude of 237 feet above ground level and 1 nautical mile from the runway. The drone landed on runway 31, which had a length of 1,120 meters. The threshold height was good, and the threshold speed was 75 knots. The touchdown distance was 238 meters, and the touchdown speed was 63 knots, both of which were considered good. The touchdown rate was excellent at -54 feet per minute, and the runway touchdown alignment was perfect.
The local weather conditions at the time of landing were the same as during the takeoff, with a temperature of 9°C and a 4-knot wind blowing at 90 degrees. The crosswind was 4 knots, while the tailwind was 2 knots. The total landing distance was 722 meters, which accounted for 64% of the runway. The runway rollout alignment was also perfect. After landing, the drone taxiied to the parking area, a process that took less than 1 minute and covered less than 1 nautical mile.
In total, the flight covered a distance of 381 nautical miles and lasted for 151 minutes, using 71 kilograms of fuel.
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