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MY FS FLIGHTS
Flight Score
Know your rotation speed
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 · 17 stages, 16 scored
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The threshold, the flare and the hold-off. The approach that led to it is the stabilisation gates below.
One stabilised approach gate: five checks where the approach path is 500 ft above the runway. The 1,000 ft gate was not assessed, because the approach did not join final that far out.
The approach, gate by gate
Side view — the last 606 m of the approach.
Plan view — the full 606 m runway, to the same scale as the side view.
The 184 m touchdown sits inside the full-score zone. The arrival was smooth.
The rest of the report
The flight in question involved a Camair Twin Navion aircraft taking off from Düsseldorf Airport, located in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. The departure roll took place on runway 05R, with the aircraft lifting off in just 427 meters, or 18% of the runway's length. The liftoff speed was 121 knots.
The local weather at the time of takeoff was favorable, with a temperature of 13 degrees Celsius and a gentle headwind of 4 knots. The aircraft then began its enroute climb approximately a mile northeast of Düsseldorf Airport, rising from an initial altitude of 1,186 feet above sea level to 7,267 feet in just 2 minutes. During this climb, the aircraft covered a distance of 4 nautical miles.
Following the initial climb, the aircraft transitioned into a level cruise, remaining at this altitude for 2 minutes and covering less than 1 nautical mile. The enroute descent then began overhead Ratingen, with the aircraft descending from 7,573 feet to 3,156 feet in 2 minutes, while covering 5 nautical miles.
The aircraft then entered another level cruise, this time for 44 minutes, and covering a distance of 8 nautical miles. This cruise took place approximately 1 mile northwest of Düsseldorf Airport. Following this, the aircraft began a climb from 3,406 feet to 3,983 feet in 2 minutes, covering 5 nautical miles.
Later in the flight, the aircraft began another climb from 3,112 feet to 4,001 feet in 2 minutes, covering 5 nautical miles, this time from a location 2 miles west of Kinrooi in Flanders, Belgium. A descent then occurred from 4,002 feet to 477 feet over 4 minutes, while covering 11 nautical miles.
The final approach took place at EBZH Kiewit Airfield Hasselt, with the aircraft descending from 4,002 feet to 333 feet above ground level, while approaching from the west. The aircraft landed safely on runway 09, with a touchdown distance of 184 meters, slightly above target. The touchdown speed of 87 knots was fast, and the touchdown rate was hard at -406 feet per minute.
The runway touchdown position was 13.5 meters off-centerline, while the total landing distance covered 80% of the runway's length. Additionally, the runway rollout alignment was 19.8 meters off-centerline. In conclusion, the total flight distance was 68 nautical miles, with a flight time of 27 minutes and a fuel consumption of 0 kilograms.
The aircraft that landed was a Camair Twin Navion, which successfully touched down on runway 09 at EBZH Kiewit Airfield Hasselt. The aircraft scored an overall 83.9% for its landing performance.
Upon approach, the aircraft was heading in the correct direction, heading 89.0°, and was 1 nm away from the runway at an altitude of 333 ft. However, upon landing, the aircraft displayed some shortcomings. One major point was that the threshold speed was significantly above the target speed of 92 kt. The touchdown distance of 184 m was considered good, but the touchdown speed of 87 kt was faster than recommended, resulting in a hard touchdown rate of -406 fpm.
The landing distance of 484 m (80% of the runway) also showed a misalignment from the centreline. After touchdown, the runway rollout alignment was similarly misaligned by 19.8 m from centreline. This shows a need for improvement in terms of maintaining a stable flight path during the entire landing procedure.
Considering local weather conditions, it appears that the low wind speeds (1 kt at 269°) played a minor role in this landing. The temperature at 15°C may have contributed to slightly more density in the air, but it's unlikely to have had a significant impact on the landing performance.
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