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MY FS FLIGHTS
Flight Score
Shorten the long landing
Ground effect becomes significant below about one wingspan of height. A Cessna 172, with a 36 ft span, enters ground effect at flare height - the float it feels in the hold-off is ground effect arriving on cue. An A320, with a span around 117 ft, has been in ground effect since before the threshold and there is no sudden cushion to feel, only a gradual reduction in induced drag that lengthens any float you allow.
Read more in Flare TimingStart to finish · 24 stages, 22 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.
Side view — the last 5,000 ft of the approach.
Plan view — the first 5,000 ft of the 7,853 ft runway, to the same scale as the side view.
Touched down 1,775 ft past the threshold — beyond the full-score zone. The arrival was smooth.
The rest of the report
The flight began with a taxiing period from the parking to the runway, which took 17 minutes and covered a distance of 4 nautical miles. The aircraft, a Cessna 208B, then departed from runway 33 at KRYN Ryan Field in Tucson, Arizona. The takeoff distance was 215 meters, which accounted for 18% of the runway. The liftoff speed was 79 knots, and the local weather conditions were characterized by a temperature of 31 degrees Celsius and a wind speed of 5 knots at 299 degrees.
As the aircraft climbed away from the airport, it began its enroute climb from 3,352 feet above sea level to 15,838 feet above sea level, an increase of 12,486 feet in 25 minutes and covering a distance of 53 nautical miles. The climb started 1 mile north of KRYN Ryan Field and took the aircraft over the Arizona landscape. The local weather conditions remained relatively consistent throughout the climb.
After reaching the desired altitude, the aircraft began its enroute descent from 15,902 feet above sea level to 9,591 feet above sea level, a decrease of 6,311 feet in 9 minutes and covering a distance of 27 nautical miles. The descent started 8 miles northeast of 31AZ Benson Airport in Benson, Arizona. The aircraft then leveled off and began its enroute level cruise, which lasted 73 minutes and covered a distance of 184 nautical miles.
The enroute level cruise started 7 miles north of 7AZ4 Rancho Relaxo Airport in Pearce, Arizona. The aircraft then began another enroute climb from 4,683 feet above sea level to 5,972 feet above sea level, an increase of 1,289 feet in 3 minutes and covering a distance of 7 nautical miles. This climb started 21 miles east of KWSD Condron Army Air Field in White Sands, New Mexico.
The aircraft then began another enroute level cruise, which lasted 14 minutes and covered a distance of 34 nautical miles. This cruise started 23 miles south of E02 Timberon Alamogordo in New Mexico. The aircraft then began another enroute climb from 5,246 feet above sea level to 6,897 feet above sea level, an increase of 1,652 feet in 3 minutes and covering a distance of 7 nautical miles. This climb started 25 miles north of Dell City, Texas.
The aircraft then began another enroute level cruise, which lasted 8 minutes and covered a distance of 20 nautical miles. This cruise started 26 miles north of 2E5 Dell City Mun Dell City in Texas. The aircraft then began its enroute descent from 5,712 feet above sea level to 4,567 feet above sea level, a decrease of 1,145 feet in 3 minutes and covering a distance of 6 nautical miles. This descent started 18 miles northwest of KCAX Carlsbad Airport in Carlsbad, New Mexico.
The aircraft then began another enroute level cruise, which lasted 6 minutes and covered a distance of 10 nautical miles. This cruise started 12 miles northwest of KCAX Carlsbad Airport in Carlsbad, New Mexico. The aircraft then began its final enroute descent from 4,270 feet above sea level to 3,691 feet above sea level, a decrease of 579 feet in 2 minutes and covering a distance of 2 nautical miles. This descent started 5 miles west of KCNM Cavern City Air Terminal in Carlsbad, New Mexico.
The aircraft then began its final approach to runway 03 at KCNM Cavern City Air Terminal from the southwest, heading 35.0 degrees at 1 nautical mile and 606 feet above ground level. The local weather conditions were characterized
The Cessna 208B aircraft successfully landed at KCNM Cavern City Air Terminal, but the landing was not without its challenges. The final approach to runway 03 from the southwest was initiated at an altitude of 606 feet above ground level (agl) and a distance of 1 nautical mile from the runway. The aircraft was heading 35.0° at the time of the approach.
Upon landing, the aircraft touched down 255 meters beyond the touchdown zone, which is considered excessively far. The touchdown speed of 60 knots was within the acceptable range, indicating that the pilot maintained control of the aircraft during the landing. However, the touchdown rate of -470 feet per minute (fpm) was considered hard, suggesting that the pilot may have applied excessive braking or reverse thrust.
The threshold height at 137 feet agl was significantly higher than the target height, which could have contributed to the hard touchdown. The threshold speed of 64 knots was within the acceptable range, indicating that the pilot maintained control of the aircraft during the approach.
The runway touchdown position was excessively misaligned by 35.4 meters from the centerline, which could have made the landing more challenging. The local weather conditions at the time of the landing were characterized by a temperature of 22°C and a wind speed of 14 knots from a direction of 70°. The crosswind component was 6 knots, while the headwind component was 13 knots.
The total landing distance of 750 meters was 31% of the runway length, which is considered relatively short. The runway rollout alignment was slightly misaligned by 15.2 meters from the centerline, which could have made the landing more challenging.
Overall, while the landing was successful, there were several areas for improvement. The pilot could have worked on maintaining a more precise approach and touchdown, as well as improving the runway alignment during the rollout. Additionally, the aircraft's performance could be optimized to reduce the touchdown rate and improve the overall landing distance.
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