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MY FS FLIGHTS
Flight Score
Fixing the bounce
Fast at the threshold, normal flare, and the runway seems to refuse the aircraft. The instinctive fix - pushing it on - causes the next one. A fast aircraft forced onto the runway touches nosewheel-first or nearly so. The tell is a touchdown that feels soft followed by a bounce that steepens. Pilots fix the bounce recovery; the cause was the 10 knots at the threshold.
Read more in VRef ExplainedStart 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 69 kt with 8.1° 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 1,026 ft.
Reached 35 ft with 3,503 ft of runway left; then climbing at 1,710 fpm on average to 1,026 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 5,880 ft runway.
Rolled from 1,303 ft in, drifted left of the centreline, 7 ft at the widest, and lifted off 7 ft left. Airborne 31 % 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 0.9 nm, where the final began, to the threshold, never more than 30 ft below the slope.
Your height above the runway against the distance still to go. The glideslope is the steady descent path to the aiming point, 1,000 ft 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 1,080 ft left of the centreline at 0.9 nm, then inside the band from 0.5 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 +6 kt and +10 kt on the approach speed of 60 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
Perfect landing flare
Calm: nothing to correct for. Touched down straight, wings level.
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 5,000 ft of the approach.
Crossed the threshold at 44 ft, close to the 50 ft target. Touched down 1,309 ft in, 309 ft past the ideal 1,000 ft.
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 5,000 ft across. The dashed line is the ideal, 50 ft over the threshold and down 1,000 ft 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 400 fpm at 43 ft to 50 fpm at touchdown. The nose came up 5.6° 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 5,000 ft of the 5,502 ft runway, to the same scale as the side view.
Touched down on the centreline, and stayed within 2 ft 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 1,309 ft touchdown sits inside the full-score zone. The 1.09 G arrival bounced 5 times.
The rest of the report
This flight began with the pilot taxiing their Van's RV-14 aircraft from the parking area to the runway, a journey that took 3 minutes and covered less than 1 nautical mile.
Once the plane reached runway 06 at KLKR Lancaster County-McWhirter Field, it took off with a departure roll distance of 600 feet, which accounted for just 10% of the runway. The liftoff speed was a respectable 69 knots. The local temperature was 78 degrees Fahrenheit during this time.
Following takeoff, the aircraft began enroute climb mode, which kicked in over KLKR Lancaster County-McWhirter Field. The engine climbed rapidly from an altitude of 1,538 feet above sea level to 4,215 feet above sea level, an increase of 2,677 feet in just 3 minutes while covering a distance of 6 nautical miles.
As the plane leveled off, enroute level cruise commenced 1 mile southeast of Catawba, lasting for a brief 2 minutes and covering 5 nautical miles. However, this steady pace was short-lived as the pilot initiated an enroute descent, which started overhead Lesslie. This descent dropped the aircraft from an altitude of 4,181 feet above sea level to 846 feet above sea level, a decrease of 3,335 feet in 6 minutes while covering a distance of 7 nautical miles.
Upon reaching the Rock Hill - York County Airport, the pilot executed a final approach to runway 02 from the south, heading in a northeasterly direction at an altitude of 171 feet above ground level. The aircraft made a smooth landing on the runway, which had a length of 5,502 feet and a local temperature of 72 degrees Fahrenheit. The threshold speed, although slightly above the target speed, still presented a good threshold height, and the aircraft's touchdown speed of 56 knots was commendable.
The total landing distance for the Van's RV-14 was 2,339 feet, which accounted for 43% of the runway. The runway touchdown alignment was impeccable, and the plane's rollout was perfectly aligned. Taxiing from the runway to the parking area took just 1 minute and covered less than 1 nautical mile.
After this successful flight, the total distance traveled was 19 nautical miles, while fuel consumption was a relatively modest 11 pounds. The overall performance demonstrated by the Van's RV-14 was noteworthy, and the pilot was able to complete the flight without any issues.
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