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MY FS FLIGHTS
Flight Score
Improve the takeoff
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 · 20 stages, 18 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 113 kt with 3.0° 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 1,055 ft. The distance scale changes past the runway end.
Reached 35 ft with 2,051 ft of runway left; then climbing at 1,630 fpm on average to 1,055 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 5,367 ft runway.
Rolled from 96 ft in, drifted left of the centreline, 9 ft at the widest, and lifted off 10 ft left. Airborne 44 % 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 4 nm to the threshold, never more than 320 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, 1,000 ft 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 16× larger than distances along the final.
Inside the 1° band all the way from 4 nm, never more than 70 ft off the centreline.
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 all the way, between +12 kt and +43 kt on the approach speed of 98 kt.
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
3 kt across from the right, which takes about 2° of crab to hold the centreline at 89 kt. Touched down with 2° of it still on, wings level.
Wind 260° at 6 kt · 5 kt head · 3 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 5,327 ft of the approach.
Crossed the threshold at 39 ft, 11 ft below the 50 ft target. Touched down 2,869 ft in, 1,869 ft past the ideal 1,000 ft.
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 5,327 ft across. The dashed line is the ideal, 50 ft over the threshold and down 1,000 ft 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 39 ft the descent stopped and turned into a climb of 110 fpm before coming down at 50 fpm to touch. The nose came up 4.1° 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 5,327 ft of the 13,490 ft runway, to the same scale as the side view.
Touched down on the centreline and drifted to 21 ft right on the rollout, back to 7 ft right by the end.
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.
Touched down 2,869 ft past the threshold — beyond the full-score zone. The 1.12 G arrival bounced.
The rest of the report
The flight began with taxiing from the parking area to the runway, which took 18 minutes and covered less than 1 nautical mile. The aircraft, a Cockspur PH100, then departed from runway 35 at KELK Elk City Regional Business Airport. The takeoff distance was 2,582 feet, which accounted for 48% of the runway. The liftoff speed was 113 knots.
The local weather conditions at the time of departure were characterized by a temperature of 56°F and winds of 6 knots at 229°. The crosswind was 5 knots, while the tailwind was 4 knots. After departing from KELK, the aircraft began its enroute climb, starting 1 mile north of the airport and climbing from 3,085 feet above sea level to 4,442 feet above sea level, an increase of 1,357 feet in just 1 minute, covering a distance of 3 nautical miles.
The enroute level cruise started 4 miles northwest of KELK and lasted for 9 minutes, covering a distance of 40 nautical miles. The aircraft then began another enroute climb, this time starting 2 miles south of Wheeler, Texas, and climbing from 4,454 feet above sea level to 5,344 feet above sea level, an increase of 891 feet in 2 minutes, covering a distance of 7 nautical miles. The enroute level cruise resumed 7 miles southwest of Wheeler and lasted for 12 minutes, covering a distance of 56 nautical miles.
As the aircraft approached its destination, it began its enroute descent, starting 7 miles west of Stamps Field Panhandle, Texas, and descending from 5,332 feet above sea level to 4,572 feet above sea level, a decrease of 760 feet in 2 minutes, covering a distance of 5 nautical miles. The final approach to runway 22 at KAMA Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport was made from the northeast, heading 227.0° at 4 nautical miles and 958 feet above ground level.
The landing on runway 22 was successful, with a touchdown point 1,453 feet beyond the touchdown zone. The touchdown speed was 89 knots, which was good, and the touchdown rate was perfect at -46 feet per minute. The runway touchdown alignment was also perfect. The local weather conditions at the time of landing were characterized by a temperature of 52°F and winds of 6 knots at 260°. The crosswind was 3 knots, while the headwind was 5 knots.
The total landing distance was 5,011 feet, which accounted for 37% of the runway. The runway rollout alignment was very good. After landing, the aircraft taxied to the parking area, which took 2 minutes and covered less than 1 nautical mile. The total flight distance was 119 nautical miles, and the flight duration was 34 minutes. The aircraft used 666 pounds of fuel during the flight.
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