Events
Events
Events
Events
Events
Events
Events
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 · 14 stages, 12 in the score
Events
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 119 kt with 2.9° 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 1,147 ft. The distance scale changes past the runway end.
Reached 35 ft with 326 m of runway left; then climbing at 1,540 fpm on average to 1,147 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 1,230 m runway.
Rolled from 41 m in, drifted right of the centreline, 5.3 m at the widest, and lifted off 5.4 m right. Airborne 48 % 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.
The final from 4 nm.
Profile height against the 3° glideslope, with its 2° band in green.
Inside the glideslope band from 2.9 nm, where the final began, to the threshold, never more than 140 ft below 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° 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 857 m right of the centreline at 2.9 nm, then drifted 49 m left between 1.1 and 0.8 nm, then inside the band from 0.8 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.
Fast from 2.9 nm, where the final began, to 1.4 nm (up to +112 kt), then inside the band to 0.9 nm, then fast to 0.3 nm (up to +36 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 (1 kt): nothing to correct for. Touched down with the nose 1° right of the track, wings level.
Wind 164° at 8 kt · 8 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 87 kt at touchdown to taxi speed (30 kt) in 15 s, an average deceleration of 0.21 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 1,230 m of the approach.
Crossed the threshold at 4 ft, 46 ft below the 50 ft target. Touched down 220 m in, 85 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 1,230 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 3 ft the descent stopped and turned into a climb of 160 fpm before coming down at 150 fpm to touch. The nose went down 1.4° 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 1,230 m runway, to the same scale as the side view.
Touched down 1.6 m left of the centreline, and stayed about there down the rollout, 3.7 m right at the widest.
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 220 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 18 at EDFB Reichelsheim Airfield, where the PC21 aircraft took off after covering 52% of the runway's length. The takeoff distance was 636 meters, and the aircraft lifted off at a speed of 120 knots. The local weather conditions at the time of takeoff were characterized by a temperature of 7 degrees Celsius and a wind speed of 8 knots from a direction of 165 degrees, resulting in a 2-knot crosswind and an 8-knot headwind.
As the aircraft climbed, it started its enroute climb overhead EXGB Florstadt Airport, located in Florstadt, Hessen, Germany. The climb began at an altitude of 1,592 feet above sea level and reached a height of 2,555 feet above sea level, an increase of 963 feet in just 1 minute. During this climb, the aircraft covered a distance of 4 nautical miles.
Following the enroute climb, the aircraft entered a level cruise phase, which lasted for 5 minutes and covered a distance of 8 nautical miles. This phase began 1 mile south east of Altenstadt, Hessen, Germany.
As the flight progressed, the aircraft began its final approach to runway 18 at EDFB Reichelsheim Airfield, approaching from the north at a heading of 151.0 degrees and at an altitude of 584 feet above ground level, 2 nautical miles from the runway.
The landing was successful, with the aircraft touching down on the runway at a speed of 94 knots and a touchdown distance of 217 meters, which was 52% of the runway's length. The touchdown rate was -153 feet per minute, and the runway touchdown alignment was very good. The local weather conditions at the time of landing were similar to those at takeoff, with a temperature of 6 degrees Celsius and a wind speed of 8 knots from a direction of 163 degrees, resulting in a 2-knot crosswind and an 8-knot headwind.
The total landing distance was 640 meters, and the runway rollout alignment was very good. The total flight distance was 16 nautical miles, and the flight duration was 8 minutes. The aircraft used 26 kilograms of fuel during the flight.
Scroll or drag the slider to zoom · double-click to reset · hover for values