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MY FS FLIGHTS
Flight Score
Avoid steep turns at low altitude
Below a thousand feet the aeroplane is slow, heavy and close to the ground. A steep turn loses lift, raises the stall speed and flattens the climb just when the gradient matters most. A normal turn on course is a rate one — fifteen degrees or so, twenty-five at the outside, this penalty is to acknowledge when a turn has stopped being a turn and become a manoeuvre.
Read more in Improve Your Take-OffsStart to finish · 17 stages, 15 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 1,296 m of the approach.
Plan view — the full 1,296 m runway, to the same scale as the side view.
The 387 m touchdown sits inside the full-score zone. The arrival was smooth.
The rest of the report
A flight took place departing fromKGAF Hutson Field, where the Kodiak 100 took 3 minutes to taxi to runway 35 and cover a distance of 1 nautical mile. Upon departure, the aircraft used a takeoff distance of 116 meters, which was only 10% of the runway length. It reached its liftoff speed of 78 knots at that point.
With favorable local weather conditions, characterized by a temperature of 19°C and wind speeds of 19 knots coming from 349°, the aircraft took off and began its enroute climb shortly after leaving KGAF. The climb started at an altitude of 1,822 feet above sea level and ended at 5,549 feet, an increase of 3,727 feet in just 3 minutes and covering a distance of 4 nautical miles.
Following the initial climb, the aircraft leveled off and began an enroute cruise to the south west of 7ND2 Kelly's Field, covering a distance of 23 nautical miles in 7 minutes. This phase of the flight was followed by a series of subsequent climbs and descents as the aircraft continued its journey. One such descent started 2 miles north west of MN81 J J and T Airport, where the aircraft decreased its altitude from 5,544 feet to 1,930 feet in 5 minutes, covering 15 nautical miles.
Later, while approaching KCKN Crookston Municipal Kirkwood Field, another descent phase commenced south west of the airport. During this descent, the aircraft dropped its altitude by 741 feet in 2 minutes, reducing its altitude from 1,882 feet to 1,141 feet while covering a distance of just 1 nautical mile.
Upon the final approach to runway 31 at KCKN Crookston Municipal Kirkwood Field from the south east, the aircraft maintained a heading of 316.0° while approaching 1 nautical mile short of the runway, at an altitude of 238 feet above ground level. In accordance with this landing, the aircraft successfully landed on runway 31, with a runway length of 1,296 meters. The pilot achieved good threshold speed and height, and touchdown distance was also within acceptable limits.
Upon landing, the total touchdown distance was recorded as 573 meters, accounting for 44% of the runway length. However, the aircraft's runway touchdown position and post-landing rollout alignment were slightly misaligned from the centreline, respectively by 9.2 meters and 9.3 meters.
Finally, the aircraft's taxiing duration from the runway to the parking took only 2 minutes, covering less than 1 nautical mile. In total, the flight spanned 55 nautical miles and lasted for 31 minutes, with the aircraft using approximately 67 kilograms of fuel during flight operations.
The aircraft in question, a Kodiak 100, has successfully landed at KCKN Crookston Municipal Kirkwood Field from a southeastern approach. This final approach was marked with a high degree of precision, reaching 238 feet above ground level (agl) at a distance of 1 nautical mile from the runway. Upon arrival, the pilot demonstrated impressive control by maintaining a speed of 69 knots at the threshold of the runway.
During the landing, the aircraft touched down in a good position, with a notable touchdown speed of 59 knots. The rate of descent was equally impressive, coming in at an exceptional -100 feet per minute (fpm). However, there was a minor deviation from the ideal touchdown position, as the aircraft landed 9.2 meters to one side of the runway centerline. This misalignment, although not negligible, was likely manageable given the overall smoothness of the landing.
On the runway, crosswinds posed a potential challenge to the landing, with a gentle 6-knot breeze from the left and a moderate 13-knot headwind from the front. This created a crosswind of 13 - 6 = 7 kt in reality although it is reported as 6 kt. However, the pilot's ability to manage these winds resulted in a respectable total landing distance of 573 meters, which represents just 44% of the runway's length. After touchdown, the aircraft began to roll off the runway, and while the alignment improved slightly, it still remained 9.3 meters off-centerline.
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