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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 · 16 stages, 14 in the score
Events
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From brake release to the end of the climb, against time, then the takeoff point by point.
Lifted off at 77 kt with 4.9° 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 641 ft.
Reached 35 ft with 2,050 ft of runway left; then climbing at 1,200 fpm on average to 641 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 3,893 ft runway.
Rolled from 188 ft in, drifted right of the centreline, 6 ft at the widest, and lifted off 6 ft right. Airborne 33 % 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 3.0 nm, where the final began, to the threshold, never more than 400 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 1,350 ft left of the centreline at 3.0 nm, then inside the band from 2.7 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 +4 kt and +26 kt on the approach speed of 75 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
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.
From 74 kt at touchdown to taxi speed (30 kt) in 11 s, an average deceleration of 0.22 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 3,893 ft of the approach.
Crossed the threshold at 8 ft, 42 ft below the 50 ft target. Touched down 673 ft in, 327 ft short of 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 3,893 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 180 fpm at 6 ft to 100 fpm at touchdown. The pitch barely changed.
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 3,893 ft runway, to the same scale as the side view.
Touched down on the centreline and drifted to 38 ft left on 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 673 ft touchdown sits inside the full-score zone. The arrival was smooth.
The rest of the report
The flight began with a taxiing period from the parking area to the runway, which took approximately 2 minutes and covered less than 1 nautical mile. The aircraft, a Mooney Ovation M20R, then departed from runway 05 at KPVF Placerville Airport. The takeoff distance was 1,144 feet, which accounted for 29% of the runway. The liftoff speed was 77 knots.
As the aircraft climbed away from the airport, it encountered local weather conditions with a temperature of 46°F and a wind speed of 0 knots at 225 degrees. There was no crosswind or headwind to contend with. The enroute climb started overhead the airport, where the aircraft ascended from 3,253 feet above sea level to 3,681 feet, an increase of 429 feet in just 1 minute, covering a distance of 1 nautical mile.
Following the climb, the aircraft entered a level cruise phase, which began 2 miles northeast of the airport and lasted for 4 minutes. During this time, the aircraft covered a distance of 5 nautical miles. The final approach to runway 05 at KPVF Placerville Airport was made from the southwest, with the aircraft heading at 58.0 degrees at an altitude of 625 feet above ground level, 2 nautical miles from the runway.
The landing on runway 05 was successful, with the aircraft touching down at a speed of 72 knots and a touchdown distance of 662 feet. The touchdown rate was smooth at -101 feet per minute, and the runway touchdown alignment was perfect. The local weather conditions at the time of landing were a temperature of 43°F and a wind speed of 0 knots at 339 degrees, with no crosswind or headwind.
The total landing distance was 1,585 feet, which accounted for 41% of the runway. The runway rollout alignment was also perfect. The total flight distance was 9 nautical miles, and the flight duration was 8 minutes. The aircraft used 7 pounds of fuel during the flight.
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