Events
Events
Events
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 · 13 stages, 11 in the score
Events
Events
Events
From brake release to the end of the climb, against time, then the takeoff point by point.
Lifted off at 63 kt with 2.8° 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 152 ft.
Reached 35 ft with 558 m of runway left; then climbing at 620 fpm on average to 152 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 1,814 m runway.
Rolled from 893 m in, drifted 4.6 m left of the centreline and was back on it to lift off. Airborne 58 % 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, 0.8 nm out at 78 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.
Low: turned crosswind at 310 ft, below the 500 ft minimum.
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 WorkOff heading: 13° from the leg's heading on average.
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 WorkLost marks: scored 70.
The final from 4 nm.
Profile height against the 3° glideslope, with its 2° band in green.
High from 0.7 nm, where the final began, to 0.5 nm (up to 290 ft over), then back on it to the threshold.
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 139 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.
Over the threshold
Touchdown
Little crosswind (1 kt): nothing to correct for. Touched down straight, wings level.
Wind 170° at 2 kt · 1 kt head · 1 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.
From 47 kt at touchdown to taxi speed (30 kt) in 9 s, an average deceleration of 0.11 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 1,524 m of the approach.
Crossed the threshold at 16 ft, 34 ft below the 50 ft target. Touched down 364 m in, 59 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 1,524 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 210 fpm at 15 ft to 60 fpm at touchdown. The nose came up 7.1° 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 first 1,524 m of the 1,814 m runway, to the same scale as the side view.
Touched down on the centreline, and stayed within 0.9 m 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 arrow beside the runway is the crosswind, pointing the way the air was moving, so it pushed the aircraft that way.
The 364 m touchdown sits inside the full-score zone. The arrival was smooth.
The rest of the report
The flight began with a departure roll from runway 23 at EGPE Inverness Airport, where the PA38 Tomahawk aircraft took off with a takeoff distance of 181 meters, which is 10% of the runway length. The liftoff speed was 63 knots, and the local weather conditions were favorable with a temperature of 23 degrees Celsius and a gentle wind of 2 knots at 170 degrees.
As the aircraft entered the left-hand pattern, it did so from runway 23, and the entry distance was less than 1 nautical mile in just 15 seconds. The left-hand pattern crosswind was also navigated successfully, with the aircraft covering a distance of less than 1 nautical mile in 29 seconds. The pattern downwind leg was completed in 72 seconds, covering a distance of 2 nautical miles.
The pattern base leg turn was executed with precision, with the aircraft covering a distance of 1 nautical mile and turning at an angle of 45 degrees to the runway. The final approach to runway 23 was made from the north-east, with the aircraft flying at a heading of 225 degrees and an altitude of 70 meters above ground level.
The landing on runway 23 was smooth and controlled, with the aircraft touching down at a speed of 38 knots and a distance of 363 meters. The touchdown rate was excellent at -0.3 meters per second, and the runway touchdown alignment was perfect. The total landing distance was 518 meters, which is 29% of the runway length.
The runway rollout alignment was also perfect, and the aircraft came to a stop without any issues. The total flight distance was 3 nautical miles, and the flight duration was 3 minutes. The aircraft used a total of 1 kilogram of fuel during the flight. Overall, the flight was a success, with the pilot demonstrating excellent flying skills and control of the aircraft.
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