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MY FS FLIGHTS
Flight Score
Avoid steep turns at low altitude
Below a thousand feet the aeroplane is slow, heavy and close to the ground. A steep turn loses lift, raises the stall speed and flattens the climb just when the gradient matters most. A normal turn on course is a rate one — fifteen degrees or so, twenty-five at the outside, this penalty is to acknowledge when a turn has stopped being a turn and become a manoeuvre.
Read more in Improve Your Take-OffsStart to finish · 16 stages, 14 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 1,524 m of the approach.
Plan view — the first 1,524 m of the 1,771 m runway, to the same scale as the side view.
The 251 m touchdown sits inside the full-score zone. The arrival was smooth.
The rest of the report
The flight began with the aircraft taxiing from the parking area to the runway, a process that took 7 minutes and covered a distance of 2 nautical miles. The Airbus A320 then departed from runway 05R at Auckland International Airport, with a takeoff distance of 1,261 meters, which accounted for 38% of the runway. The liftoff speed was 154 knots.
As the aircraft took to the skies, it encountered local weather conditions of 17°C temperature and a wind speed of 2 knots at 160 degrees. The crosswind was 2 knots, while the headwind was negligible. The enroute climb began approximately 1 mile east of Auckland International Airport, where the aircraft ascended from an altitude of 715 feet above sea level to 36,033 feet, an increase of 35,318 feet in 21 minutes, covering a distance of 128 nautical miles.
Following the climb, the aircraft entered a level cruise phase, which started 15 miles northwest of Okato, Taranaki, New Zealand. This phase lasted for 56 minutes and covered a distance of 380 nautical miles. The enroute descent began 14 miles west of Makarora Airstrip, Wanaka, Otago, New Zealand, where the aircraft descended from 35,183 feet to 1,519 feet above sea level, a decrease of 33,664 feet in 19 minutes, covering a distance of 50 nautical miles.
The final approach to runway 05 at Queenstown International Airport was made from the west, with a heading of 75.0 degrees at 1 nautical mile and 344 feet above ground level. The landing was executed on a runway with a length of 1,771 meters, and the threshold height was good. The threshold speed was also satisfactory at 141 knots. However, the touchdown speed was a little fast at 135 knots, and the touchdown rate was hard at -402 feet per minute. The runway touchdown position was slightly misaligned by 6.1 meters from the centerline.
The total landing distance was 1,023 meters, which accounted for 58% of the runway. The runway rollout alignment was very good. Taxiing to the parking area from the runway took 2 minutes and covered less than 1 nautical mile. The total flight distance was 563 nautical miles, and the flight duration was 106 minutes. The aircraft used 4,214 kilograms of fuel during the flight.
The Airbus A320 aircraft successfully landed at Queenstown International Airport (NZQN) with a score of 96.0%. The final approach was conducted from the west, heading 75.0° at 1 nautical mile and 344 feet above ground level (agl). The aircraft touched down on runway 05, which has a length of 1,771 meters.
The threshold height was satisfactory, and the threshold speed was also good at 141 knots. However, the touchdown speed of 135 knots was slightly faster than ideal, which may have contributed to a harder touchdown rate of -402 feet per minute (fpm). The runway touchdown position was slightly misaligned by 6.1 meters from the centerline, which may have been due to a slight deviation in the approach or landing.
The local weather conditions at the time of landing were relatively calm, with a temperature of 12°C and a light wind of 2 knots at 70°. The crosswind component was negligible, and the aircraft had a slight headwind of 1 knot. The total landing distance was 1,023 meters, which is 58% of the runway length. This indicates that the aircraft was able to stop within a reasonable distance after touchdown.
One of the notable aspects of the landing was the excellent runway rollout alignment, which was very good. This suggests that the pilot was able to maintain control of the aircraft during the rollout phase and align the aircraft with the centerline of the runway. Overall, the landing was successful, and the aircraft was able to come to a stop within a safe distance from the end of the runway.
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