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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 · 28 stages, 26 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 137 kt with 2.8° 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 811 ft.
Reached 35 ft with 604 m of runway left; then climbing at 2,030 fpm on average to 811 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 1,508 m runway.
Rolled from 113 m in, drifted left of the centreline, 2.4 m at the widest, and lifted off 2.1 m left, in 9 kn of crosswind from the right. 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 170 ft above 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 6× larger than distances along the final.
Inside the 1° band all the way from 4 nm, never more than 63 m 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.
Fast from 4 nm to 2.4 nm (up to +131 kt), then inside the band to 1.6 nm, then fast to the threshold (up to +56 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
6 kt across from the left, which takes about 3° of crab to hold the centreline at 104 kt. Touched down with 3° of it still on, wings level.
Wind 220° at 10 kt · 7 kt head · 6 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 96 kt at touchdown to taxi speed (30 kt) in 22 s, an average deceleration of 0.17 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 1,524 m of the approach.
Crossed the threshold at 59 ft, close to the 50 ft target. Touched down 553 m in, 248 m past 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 1,524 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.
The sink went from 540 fpm at 57 ft to 90 fpm at touchdown. The nose came up 2.8° 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 1,524 m of the 1,919 m runway, to the same scale as the side view.
Touched down 3.2 m right of the centreline, and steered back to 0.8 m left by the end of the rollout.
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 553 m past the threshold — beyond the full-score zone. The arrival was smooth.
The rest of the report
The flight in question was conducted in an Aero L-39 Albatros aircraft, departing from runway 17 at YMEN Melbourne Essendon Airport. The takeoff roll took 563 meters, which is 37% of the runway length, and the aircraft lifted off at a speed of 138 knots. The local weather conditions at the time of departure were a temperature of 17°C, with a wind speed of 13 knots at 230 degrees, resulting in a crosswind of 10 knots and a headwind of 8 knots.
After takeoff, the aircraft began its enroute climb, starting overhead Essendon North, and climbed from 1,219 feet above sea level to 9,100 feet above sea level, an increase of 7,882 feet, in just 3 minutes and covering a distance of 20 nautical miles. The climb was followed by a level cruise, which lasted for 5 minutes and covered 16 nautical miles, starting 6 miles north-east of Portsea.
The aircraft then began another climb, this time from 3,307 feet above sea level to 4,385 feet above sea level, an increase of 1,078 feet, in 2 minutes and covering 4 nautical miles, starting 6 miles south of Barwon Heads. The climb was followed by a descent, which started 6 miles south-east of Torquay and descended from 4,092 feet above sea level to 1,244 feet above sea level, a decrease of 2,848 feet, in 3 minutes and covering 6 nautical miles.
The flight continued with several more climbs and descents, each with varying altitudes and distances covered. The aircraft also conducted several level cruises, including one that lasted for 3 minutes and covered 19 nautical miles, starting 4 miles north-east of Sorrento.
The final approach to runway 26 at YMEN Melbourne Essendon Airport was conducted from the east, with the aircraft heading 267.0 degrees at 4 nautical miles and 1,395 feet above ground level. The landing was made on the runway, which was 1,919 meters long, and the threshold height was slightly above the target height. The threshold speed was excessively high at 120 knots, and the touchdown point was 121 meters beyond the touchdown zone.
The touchdown speed was 104 knots, which was fast, but the touchdown rate was excellent at -88 feet per minute. The runway touchdown position was slightly misaligned by 3.7 meters from the centreline. The local weather conditions at the time of landing were a temperature of 14°C, with a wind speed of 10 knots at 220 degrees, resulting in a crosswind of 8 knots and a headwind of 7 knots.
The total landing distance was 1,190 meters, which is 62% of the runway length, and the runway rollout alignment was very good. The aircraft then taxied to the parking area, taking 2 minutes and covering less than 1 nautical mile.
The total flight distance was 137 nautical miles, and the flight took 43 minutes, using 386 kilograms of fuel.
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