By the PilotLeague Team — Landing Mastery Series
Every pilot wants to know: how hard did I land? The landing rate — measured in feet per minute (FPM) — is the single most discussed metric in the flight sim community. But what does it actually mean, and how does it relate to your butter landing percentage?
In this guide, we break down the FPM scale, explain how simulators measure touchdown vertical speed, and show how PilotLeague uses SimConnect telemetry to score your landings more accurately than any other tool.
FPM stands for Feet Per Minute and measures vertical speed — how fast you're descending (or climbing) at any given moment. At touchdown, this number captures the energy of impact. A lower (closer to zero) FPM means a softer landing. In MSFS 2024, FPM is displayed on the vertical speed indicator (VSI) in the cockpit.
Flight simulators capture your vertical speed at the exact frame when the landing gear makes contact with the runway. In MSFS 2024, this is done via the SimConnect API which reads aircraft state variables at up to 30 Hz. The precision of the measurement depends on the simulation frame rate — higher FPS means more accurate touchdown detection.
Airlines typically aim for -100 to -250 FPM on normal approaches. The tolerance threshold varies: narrow-body aircraft (A320, B737) generally target below -200 FPM, while wide-body aircraft (B777, A350) may accept up to -360 FPM due to their higher mass and sink rate. Hard landing limits triggering maintenance inspection are typically -600 FPM for narrow-body and -480 FPM for wide-body.
The flight sim community has its own culture around landing rates. Anything below -60 FPM is celebrated as "butter." The average PilotLeague user lands at around -150 FPM, while the top 10% consistently achieve below -80 FPM. The platform's landing rankings reveal the true skill distribution across thousands of flights.
A -10 FPM landing looks impressive, but it often means floating down the runway for hundreds of meters past the touchdown zone. Real airline SOPs prioritize landing in the touchdown zone (first third of the runway) with positive contact over an ultra-soft touchdown. PilotLeague's scoring algorithm balances FPM with TDZ precision and centerline accuracy — because a butter landing 2,000 feet down the runway isn't actually a good landing.
PilotLeague reads VELOCITY_WORLD_Y from SimConnect at the exact moment of touchdown. This is the world-frame vertical velocity, which gives the true descent rate regardless of aircraft pitch or bank angle. Many other tools use VELOCITY_BODY_Y (body-frame), which can be skewed by pitch attitude at touchdown — reporting a softer landing than reality if you're nose-up.
Your PilotLeague landing score isn't just FPM. It combines vertical speed (40%), touchdown zone distance (30%), and centerline deviation (30%). This means a -120 FPM landing in the first 300m of the runway with perfect centerline alignment scores higher than a -30 FPM butter landing 1,500m down the runway with 10m lateral offset.
Every landing is recorded and analyzed. Check the landing rankings to see where you stand against thousands of other virtual pilots. Filter by aircraft type, airport, or time period to track your progression.
Improving your FPM comes down to three fundamentals: energy management on final approach, precise flare timing, and smooth power reduction. Master these techniques with our dedicated guides:
Stop guessing your landing rate. PilotLeague captures every touchdown with SimConnect precision and builds your complete landing history.
PilotLeague records your exact FPM, touchdown zone distance, centerline deviation, and G-force on every single landing — automatically.
Apply these techniques in your next flight and track your improvement with PilotLeague.
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