Events
Events
Events
Events
Events
Events
MY FS FLIGHTS
Flight Score
Departure
Lower the nose and add power to raise climb speed to 78 kt.
What happened: Climb speed was 63 kt against a target of 78 kt, running 15 kt slow through the climb.
Watch for: Airspeed indicator against the climb target of 78 kt.
Arrival
Take the power back earlier on final, so the aircraft settles onto the path and the speed comes back to 61 kt together. Do not push down for the height: that only adds speed.
What happened: You crossed the threshold at 144 ft agl, 94 ft agl above the 50 ft agl target, and at 83 kt, 22 kt over the 61 kt threshold speed. High and fast together is energy the runway has to absorb, and this touchdown came 1,180 m beyond the aim point.
Watch for: Airspeed indicator: 61 kt on short final, then 50 ft agl over the threshold
Ground effect becomes significant below about one wingspan of height. A Cessna 172, with a 36 ft span, enters ground effect at flare height - the float it feels in the hold-off is ground effect arriving on cue. An A320, with a span around 117 ft, has been in ground effect since before the threshold and there is no sudden cushion to feel, only a gradual reduction in induced drag that lengthens any float you allow.
Read more in Flare TimingStart to finish · 11 stages, 9 in the score
Events
Events
Events
Events
Events
Events
From brake release to the end of the climb, against time, then the takeoff point by point.
Lifted off at 60 kt with −0.2° of pitch. Climb 3 averaged 63 kt, 15 kt under its 78 kt target.
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 433 ft.
Reached 35 ft with 1,799 m of runway left; then climbing at 930 fpm on average to 433 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 2,190 m runway.
Rolled from the start of the runway, drifted left of the centreline, 11 m at the widest, and lifted off 10 m left. Airborne 10 % 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.
On the glideslope from 0.7 nm, where the final began, to 0.3 nm, then high to the threshold (up to 120 ft over).
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 115 m right of the centreline at 0.7 nm.
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 31 kt fast at the 1,000 ft gate, closing to 18 at 500 ft and 10 at the threshold.
Fast from 0.7 nm, where the final began, to the threshold (up to +32 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
The flare mostly held the target profile. The flare was pumped rather than held: pitch changed direction 7 times on the way down. Touchdown was 1,637 m past the threshold. One smooth continuous input - chasing the runway with the elevator makes the next correction bigger, not smaller.
9 kt across from the left, which takes about 10° of crab to hold the centreline at 51 kt. Touched down with the nose 3° right of the track, away from the wind, wings level.
Wind 249° at 46 kt · 45 kt head · 9 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.
Side view — the last 1,759 m of the approach.
Crossed the threshold at 143 ft, 93 ft above the 50 ft target; began the flare at 28 ft; ballooned 6 ft from 4 ft. Touched down 1,637 m in, 1,333 m past 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 1,759 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.
From the flare the descent stopped and turned into a climb of 210 fpm before coming down at 130 fpm to touch. The nose came up 8.3° 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 1,759 m of the 2,288 m runway, to the same scale as the side view.
Touched down 13 m right of the centreline.
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.
Touched down 1,637 m past the threshold — beyond the full-score zone. The 2.50 G arrival bounced.
The rest of the report
The Cessna 172 taxied to runway 10 at TNCM Princess Juliana International Airport and commenced the departure roll, using a takeoff distance of 223 m which represented 10 % of the runway. Liftoff was achieved at 60 kt. Ambient conditions were 19 °C with a wind of 4 kt from 218°, including a 3 kt crosswind component and a 3 kt tailwind.
During the climb the aircraft departed the overhead area of TNCM, ascending from 532 ft asl to 1,554 ft asl - a gain of 1,022 ft - in 1 minute while covering 2 nm.
Level cruise began 1 mile west of Marigot and was maintained for 2 minutes, during which the airplane travelled 2 nm at a constant altitude.
The descent started 1 mile north-west of TNCM, with the aircraft descending from 1,301 ft asl to 306 ft asl, a loss of 995 ft, over a period of 2 minutes and a distance of 3 nm.
Final approach to runway 28 was executed from the east, initially at a heading of 258.0° and an altitude of 288 ft agl. The approach continued with a further descent from 500 ft agl to 196 ft agl in 34 seconds, and the aircraft was recorded as having scored on the stabilisation gates.
Landing was made on runway 28, whose length is 2,288 m. The threshold height at 144 ft agl was noted as excessively over target and the threshold speed was excessively high at 83 kt. Touchdown occurred beyond the midpoint of the runway, using more than 50 % of the available length. The aircraft touched down at 48 kt with a touchdown rate of minus 25 fpm, and the touchdown point was laterally displaced by 13.1 m from the centreline. Weather at the time remained 19 °C with a wind of 4 kt from 218°, a 3 kt crosswind and a 3 kt headwind.
In total the flight covered 9 nm, required 7 minutes of elapsed time, and consumed 2 kg of fuel.
Scroll or drag the slider to zoom · double-click to reset · hover for values