Events
Events
Events
Events
MY FS FLIGHTS
Flight Score
Departure
Start bringing the nose up as the speed reaches 80 kt, not after it.
What happened: You started the rotation at 96 kt, 16 kt past the 80 kt rotation speed.
Watch for: Airspeed indicator: 80 kt at rotation
See Departure Roll
Arrival
Begin the flare with progressive back pressure and keep it coming until the sink is arrested, rather than flying it on flat.
What happened: The nose was barely raised in the flare and little of the sink was taken out, flying the aircraft onto the runway. This pattern usually carries through to a firm touchdown with a noticeable sink rate.
Watch for: Vertical speed indicator: a smoothly reducing sink through the normal flare band, not a steady rate into the runway.
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, 13 in the score
Events
Events
Events
Events
The threshold, the flare and the hold-off. The approach that led to it is the stabilisation gates below.
One stabilised approach gate for a circuit: seven checks where the approach path is 300 ft above the runway. The 1,000 ft gate is an instrument-approach check and does not apply. These checks are the approach's score.
At the 300 ft gate: wings 18° of bank, against a 10° limit.
The approach, gate by gate
Side view — the last 1,524 m of the approach.
Plan view — the first 1,524 m of the 3,056 m runway, to the same scale as the side view.
The 389 m touchdown sits inside the full-score zone. The arrival was smooth.
The rest of the report
The Pilatus PC-21 taxied from the parking area to runway 15 at YAMB RAAF Base Amberley, a movement that required 1 minutes and covered less than 1 nm.
During the departure roll on runway 15, the aircraft accelerated to a liftoff speed of 123 kt after traveling 901 m, which represented 30 % of the available runway. Ambient conditions were a temperature of 22 °C with wind from 110° at 11 kt, providing a crosswind component of 8 kt and a headwind component of 7 kt.
The right-hand pattern entry commenced from runway 15, covering 2 nm in 14 seconds, followed by a crosswind segment of less than 1 nm in 7 seconds. The downwind turn spanned 2 nm with a 45° angle to the runway measured at 50.6°, after which the downwind leg extended 3 nm in 56 seconds. The base turn covered 2 nm with a 45° angle of 39.3°, and the base leg was less than 1 nm in 10 seconds. The final turn was 1 nm long and lasted 36 seconds, positioning the aircraft for the final approach on a heading of 159.0° at 1 nm and 230 ft AGL.
Landing was executed on runway 15, whose length is 3 050 m and which offered good threshold height. The threshold speed was recorded at 124 kt, while touchdown occurred 383 m down the runway at a speed of 123 kt. The aircraft’s vertical speed at touchdown was minus 260 fpm and the touchdown point was offset 7.9 m from the centreline. Weather at the time of landing included a temperature of 21 °C, wind from 117° at 9 kt, a crosswind component of 6 kt and a headwind component of 6 kt.
Overall, the flight covered a total distance of 11 nm, taking 3, and consumed 17 kg of fuel.
The final approach to runway 15 at YAMB RAAF Base Amberley was flown from the north on a heading of 159.0° at 1 nm and 230 ft AGL, with a temperature of 21 °C, wind 9 kt from 117°, including a 6 kt crosswind and a 6 kt headwind. The approach was noted as having a good threshold height, but the threshold speed was excessively high at 124 kt.
During the threshold and flare segment the aircraft maintained the excessive speed of 124 kt, and the flare was executed with the aircraft still above the target speed. The touchdown distance was good at 383 m from the threshold, yet the touchdown speed of 123 kt was recorded as too fast.
Touchdown occurred with a fair vertical rate of minus 260 fpm, and the aircraft landed 7.9 m off the centreline, indicating a misalignment at the runway touchdown point.
To refine future landings, reduce the approach speed to bring the threshold speed within the intended range and aim for a touchdown speed that matches VREF. Adjust flare timing to achieve the lower touchdown speed and improve centreline alignment while maintaining the current good touchdown distance.
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