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MY FS FLIGHTS
Flight Score
Improve the pattern crosswind leg
Each lap slightly wider and higher than the last, because you're unconsciously using the previous lap as your reference instead of the runway and the numbers. Invisible lap to lap, unmistakable across ten. This is the failure that only measurement catches, because your memory of lap three is gone by lap eight.
Read more in Pattern WorkStart to finish · 12 stages, 11 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 78 kt with 10.1° 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 takeoff, point by point
Side view from the start of the roll to 235 ft.
Reached 35 ft with 135 ft of runway left; then climbing at 1,400 fpm on average to 235 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.
Plan view the roll down the 2,002 ft runway.
Rolled from 1,223 ft in, never more than 2 ft off the centreline, in 5 kn of crosswind from the left. Airborne 66 % 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 arrow beside the runway is the crosswind, pointing the way the air was moving, so it pushed the aircraft that way.
Left-hand, 1,000 ft circuit height. The plan shows your circuit over a textbook one for this runway; the profile unrolls the same path from liftoff to the threshold.
Plan landing direction to the left; in pale blue the textbook circuit for your downwind speed, 1.2 nm out at 122 kt
The lap from above, with the landing direction to the left: the opposite of the runway drawings. The wide pale-blue line is a textbook circuit for your downwind speed - the downwind a mile out for every 100 kt, every turn at 30° of bank - and your track is drawn over it, each leg in the colour of its mark. The numbers are the four turns, the same as on the profile and the cards below. The 45° line from the threshold is the usual point to turn onto base.
Around the circuit height and bank; the turns are shaded
The same lap straightened out, so the height and the bank can be read together. Each shaded stretch is a turn, numbered as on the plan. The green box is circuit height, 1,000 ft, on the downwind. The amber line is 30° of bank, and a turn's steepest bank shows red above 32°. "Turn crosswind from" is the lowest height to start the first turn at.
Rough: the G force varied more than a smooth turn and leg would.
Each lap slightly wider and higher than the last, because you're unconsciously using the previous lap as your reference instead of the runway and the numbers. Invisible lap to lap, unmistakable across ten. This is the failure that only measurement catches, because your memory of lap three is gone by lap eight.
Read more in Pattern WorkRough: the G force varied more than a smooth turn and leg would.
Spacing cues are relative to your eyepoint, so two simmers with different FOV settings following the same wingtip cue fly patterns half a mile different in width, and a wide FOV compresses depth so the runway on base looks further away than it is, biasing you towards a late turn. Pick a camera position and FOV, save it, and never change it, because every judgement you calibrate is calibrated to that picture.
Read more in Pattern WorkThe final from 4 nm.
Profile height against the 5.5° glideslope, with its 1° band in green.
On the glideslope from 0.9 nm, where the final began, to 0.6 nm, then low to the threshold (up to 160 ft under).
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: 5.5° here, which is about 590 ft for every nautical mile out, crossing the threshold at about 100 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 4× larger than distances along the final.
Inside the 1° band all the way from 0.9 nm, never more than 300 ft off the centreline.
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 32 kt fast at the 1,000 ft gate, closing to 18 at 500 ft and 10 at the threshold.
Fast from 0.9 nm, where the final began, to 0.7 nm (up to +45 kt), then inside the band to 0.4 nm, then fast to the threshold (up to +28 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
5 kt across from the left, which takes about 4° of crab to hold the centreline at 81 kt. Touched down with 3° of it still on, wings level.
Wind 235° at 9 kt · 6 kt head · 5 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 2,002 ft of the approach.
Crossed the threshold at 4 ft, 46 ft below the 50 ft target. Touched down 114 ft in, 886 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 2,002 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 stayed between 160 fpm and 200 fpm from 3 ft to the runway. The nose came up 0.6° 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 full 2,002 ft runway, to the same scale as the side view.
Touched down 11 ft right of the centreline, and steered back to 5 ft right by the end of 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 arrow beside the runway is the crosswind, pointing the way the air was moving, so it pushed the aircraft that way.
The 114 ft touchdown sits inside the full-score zone. The 1.21 G arrival bounced.
The rest of the report
The Horten Ho229 aircraft took off from runway 29 at 08R Richmond Airport with a departure roll distance of 196 ft, which is 10% of the runway length. The aircraft lifted off at a speed of 78 kt, indicating a smooth and controlled takeoff. The local weather conditions at the time of takeoff were characterized by a temperature of 77 °F and a wind speed of 9 kt from a direction of 234 °, resulting in a crosswind of 6 kt and a headwind of 6 kt.
After takeoff, the aircraft entered a left-hand pattern, with the entry distance being less than 1 nm in 9 seconds. The pattern crosswind leg was also flown on the left-hand side, with a distance of less than 1 nm in 14 seconds. The aircraft then proceeded to the downwind turn, which was completed in a distance of 1 nm at an angle of 45 degrees to the runway, with a heading of 125.2 °.
The downwind leg of the pattern was flown for a distance of less than 1 nm in 38 seconds, after which the aircraft began its final approach to runway 29 at 08R Richmond Airport. The approach was made from the east, with a heading of 278.0 ° at an altitude of 240 ft above ground level (agl) and a distance of 0 nm from the runway threshold.
The landing on runway 29 was successful, with a touchdown distance of 110 ft, which is well within the acceptable limits. However, the touchdown speed of 81 kt was slightly above the target speed, and the touchdown rate of -162 fpm was good. The runway touchdown position was slightly misaligned, being 12 ft off the centreline.
The total landing distance was 804 ft, which is 40% of the runway length. The runway rollout alignment was very good, indicating a smooth and controlled landing. The total flight distance was 2 nm, which was completed in 3 minutes, and the aircraft used 22 lbs of fuel during the flight.
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