Definition
The measurable ability of an aircraft to land safely under given conditions, expressed primarily as the runway distance required to touch down and bring the aircraft to a full stop. Landing performance depends on aircraft weight, airport elevation, air temperature, wind, runway surface and slope, and pilot technique, and is calculated from data published in the aircraft's Pilot's Operating Handbook (POH) or Aircraft Flight Manual (AFM).
Plain English
How much runway your aircraft needs to land and stop, given the conditions on the day. The heavier the aircraft, the hotter the day, the higher the airport, or the more tailwind you have, the more runway you need.
Context Anchor
Used when planning, teaching, or evaluating landings, especially before using a short runway, a wet or soft runway, or a runway at a higher-elevation airport.
Derivation
“Landing” means bringing an aircraft down onto the surface. “Performance” comes from a word meaning to carry out or accomplish. In aviation, performance means what the aircraft can actually do under stated conditions, not how impressive the landing looks.
Why Pilots Care
It determines whether a chosen runway is safe and prevents runway overrun accidents.
Grounding Statement
If the airplane needs more distance to land and stop than the runway provides, the landing is not safely within the airplane’s landing performance for that situation.
Intuition Check
Do not read “landing performance” as a judgment of whether the landing was smooth. Here it means the aircraft’s practical ability to land and stop within the available distance.
Example Sentence 1
Before departing for the short grass strip, the pilot checked the landing performance chart and confirmed the aircraft could stop within the available runway at the current weight and temperature.
Example Sentence 2
Increased temperature reduced landing performance, so the student selected the longer runway instead.