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MY FS FLIGHTS
Flight Score
Work on the flare
Arrive slow and the sink rate at the threshold is already above schedule, the flare is short because there is no energy to extend it, and the touchdown is hard in a way that feels exactly like a late flare. Diagnosing a slow arrival as a late flare is the catastrophic misread: you respond by flaring earlier, which bleeds more speed, which makes the next one worse. The tiebreaker is threshold speed against VRef, not feel. Never diagnose a flare without it.
Read more in Flare TimingStart to finish · 17 stages, 16 scored
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The threshold, the flare and the hold-off. The approach that led to it is the stabilisation gates below.
One stabilised approach gate: five checks where the approach path is 500 ft above the runway. The 1,000 ft gate was not assessed, because the approach did not join final that far out.
The approach, gate by gate
Side view — the last 1,234 m of the approach.
Plan view — the full 1,234 m runway, to the same scale as the side view.
The 348 m touchdown sits inside the full-score zone. The arrival was smooth.
The rest of the report
The flight began with the departure roll on runway 06 at KTEB Teterboro Airport. The aircraft, a Cessna C172, accelerated down the runway and lifted off at a speed of 65 knots, covering a distance of 184 meters, or 10% of the runway length. The climb was steady, with a vertical gain of 3,255 feet over an interval of 5 minutes, while covering a horizontal distance of 6 nautical miles.
As the aircraft entered its enroute cruise phase, it leveled off overhead Bogota, New Jersey, having initially climbed from 1,020 feet above sea level to 4,275 feet. The next descent started north of Clifton, with the aircraft losing 2,844 feet in just 2 minutes, while covering 3 nautical miles. The climb from the descent was short and gentle, lasting just 2 minutes and covering a distance of 2 nautical miles.
Another short descent took place, this time from 1,072 feet to 897 feet in 2 minutes, while the aircraft was flying over North Caldwell. After a brief level cruise, the aircraft began its right-hand pattern entry for landing on runway 22 at KCDW Essex County Airport. The approach was textbook, with the aircraft completing the downwind turn, base leg turn, and landing in a smooth and controlled manner.
The landing itself was good, with a touchdown distance of 341 meters, achieved at a speed of 56 knots, which was considered good for the conditions. The touchdown rate was firm, at -326 feet per minute, and the runway touchdown alignment was very good. The aircraft's rollout alignment was perfect as well.
Taxiing to the parking area took 13 minutes and covered a distance of less than 1 nautical mile. The flight, in total, covered 15 nautical miles, consuming 7 kilograms of fuel and lasted 19 minutes.
A Cessna C172 successfully landed on runway 22 at Essex County Airport, KCDW. The aircraft achieved an impressive score of 81.3%. However, there were a few areas for improvement, starting with the threshold height at 99 ft above ground level (agl) which was higher than the desired target, indicating that the pilot could have done better in terms of precision and control during the descent.
Upon landing, the aircraft touched down with a speed of 56 kt, which is within the acceptable range. Nevertheless, the threshold speed was a bit higher than optimal at 72 kt, suggesting that the pilot might have allowed the aircraft to descend a bit too quickly or had difficulty controlling the descent rate.
The touchdown distance was a respectable 341 meters, which is relatively good considering the runway length of 1,234 meters. The touchdown rate of -326 feet per minute (fpm) was firm, which indicates that the pilot applied a decent amount of downward force on the controls at the moment of touchdown.
In terms of aerodynamics, the local weather conditions were favorable for a good landing. The temperature was a moderate 28 °C and the wind was relatively light, clocked at 6 kt with a direction of 304 °. This meant there were no significant crosswind or tailwind components to contend with, resulting in an easy and stable approach. The absence of any headwind made it even easier for the pilot to control the aircraft's speed.
The total landing distance turned out to be 610 meters, which covered approximately 49% of the runway. This is relatively normal for a Cessna C172, as it's a general aviation aircraft that typically requires some distance to come to a complete stop.
Despite some minor issues with the threshold height and speed, the pilot did an excellent job in terms of runway touchdown alignment and runway rollout alignment, both of which were described as 'very good' and 'perfect' respectively. Overall, it was a good landing for the Cessna C172 pilot at KCDW's runway 22, and with some fine-tuning, could potentially yield an even higher score in the future.
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