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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 · 22 stages, 21 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 82 kt with 5.5° 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 617 ft.
Reached 35 ft with 421 m of runway left; then climbing at 1,310 fpm on average to 617 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 1,001 m runway.
Rolled from 91 m in, drifted right of the centreline, 3.5 m at the widest, and lifted off 3.6 m right. Airborne 43 % 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 3.3° glideslope, with its 2° band in green.
Inside the glideslope band from 4 nm to the threshold, never more than 280 ft above the slope.
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: 3.3° here, which is about 350 ft for every nautical mile out, crossing the threshold at about 60 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 183 m right of the centreline, then inside the band from 0.4 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 from 4 nm to 0.7 nm, then fast to 0.4 nm (up to +29 kt), then inside the band to the threshold.
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
Little crosswind (2 kt): nothing to correct for. Touched down straight, wings level.
Wind 301° at 4 kt · 4 kt head · 2 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 870 m of the approach.
Crossed the threshold at 14 ft, 36 ft below the 50 ft target. Touched down 127 m in, 178 m short of 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 870 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.
The sink went from 710 fpm at 12 ft to 70 fpm at touchdown. The nose came up 3.1° 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 870 m runway, to the same scale as the side view.
Touched down on 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.
The 127 m touchdown sits inside the full-score zone. The 1.04 G arrival bounced 3 times.
The rest of the report
The flight began with a taxiing period from the parking area to the runway, which took 15 minutes and covered a distance of 1 nautical mile. The aircraft, a PA44 Seminole, then departed from runway 32 at EDBK Kyritz Airfield in Germany. The takeoff distance was 351 meters, which is 35% of the runway length. The liftoff speed was 82 knots, and the local weather conditions at the time of departure were a temperature of 18°C, with a wind speed of 6 knots from a direction of 315°.
As the aircraft climbed away from the airfield, it began its enroute climb, which started overhead EDBK Kyritz Airfield. The aircraft climbed from an altitude of 762 feet above sea level to 1,508 feet, an increase of 746 feet, in just 1 minute and covered a distance of 1 nautical mile. The climb was followed by a level cruise, which lasted for 2 minutes and covered a distance of 4 nautical miles.
The aircraft then began another enroute climb, this time from 2 miles east of Breddin, Germany. The climb took the aircraft from an altitude of 1,944 feet to 4,010 feet, an increase of 2,065 feet, in 3 minutes and covered a distance of 7 nautical miles. The climb was followed by another level cruise, which lasted for 14 minutes and covered a distance of 7 nautical miles.
The aircraft continued its journey, with multiple enroute climbs and level cruises, each lasting for varying periods of time and covering different distances. The climbs took the aircraft to higher altitudes, while the level cruises allowed it to maintain a steady altitude and speed.
As the aircraft approached its destination, it began its final descent, which started overhead Kehnert, Germany. The descent took the aircraft from an altitude of 4,585 feet to 4,012 feet, a decrease of 573 feet, in 2 minutes and covered a distance of 4 nautical miles. The descent was followed by another level cruise, which lasted for 22 minutes and covered a distance of 15 nautical miles.
The final approach to runway 27 at EDBM Magdeburg City Airfield was made from the east, with the aircraft heading 268.0° at an altitude of 1,587 feet above ground level and a distance of 4 nautical miles from the runway. The landing was successful, with a touchdown distance of 127 meters and a touchdown speed of 81 knots, which was slightly above the target speed. The touchdown rate was excellent at -67 feet per minute, and the runway touchdown alignment was perfect.
The local weather conditions at the time of landing were a temperature of 17°C, with a wind speed of 4 knots from a direction of 301°. The crosswind was 2 knots, and the headwind was 4 knots. The total flight distance was 77 nautical miles, and the flight took 65 minutes to complete. The aircraft used 78 kilograms of fuel during the flight.
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