How the weekly landing challenge works

Every week we pick one tricky airport: a short runway, a mountain valley, a famous crosswind. Land there with CAVacars 2 during the week. Every kind of aircraft has its own leaderboard, and the best landing on each one wins.

The first challenge starts on Tuesday 17 November 2026 at 16:00 UTC and runs until Sunday 22 November.

The week

• A new airport is picked every Monday at 00:00 UTC. The week closes on Sunday at 23:59 UTC.
• Airports come from a list our staff keep, each with a short note on what makes it hard. An airport isn't picked again for at least 8 weeks.
• The winners are settled on Monday at 12:00 UTC, so you have half a day to file a PIREP for a Sunday-night landing.

Where to find it

• On the website: Operations Centre → Landing Challenge, or the card on the home page. The challenge page shows the airport, a countdown to the end of the week, a tab for each live leaderboard, your own best landings and the past winners.
• In CAVacars 2: the Landing Challenge card on the Home screen (CAVacars 2 1.8.5 and later) shows the airport, the top 3 on each leaderboard and your best score. Find flights to … opens Schedules with the challenge airport filled in as the arrival.
• On Discord: the new airport is announced on Monday, the leaderboard so far is posted on Thursday evening, and the winners are announced the following Monday.

What counts

• Any flight that lands at the challenge airport: a schedule, a charter, a tour leg, an event flight or a diversion.
• Flown with CAVacars 2 1.8.0 or later. The score comes from your detailed flight report, which needs the flight recording CAVacars 2 1.8.0 and later send, so older versions, smartCARS 3, FsACARS and manual PIREPs don't count.
• Approved PIREPs only. A PIREP still waiting for review shows up on the leaderboard once it's approved.
• The touchdown must be during the week (UTC), and the PIREP filed by Monday 12:00 UTC.
• Your best landing counts. Fly it as often as you like; only your best score is on each leaderboard.

Aircraft and leaderboards

A 50 fpm touchdown is a lot easier in a Cessna than in a 777, so each kind of aircraft has its own leaderboard and its own winner:

• Small aircraft: pistons, helicopters, and turboprops with fewer than 30 seats (for example a Twin Otter or a King Air).
• Business jets: from a Citation to a Boeing Business Jet.
• Narrow-bodies: regional and narrow-body jets (CRJ, A320, 737), turboprops with 30 seats or more (Dash 8, ATR), and freighters that size (757F).
• Wide-bodies: wide-body jets (767, A330, 777, 787, 747) and big freighters.

Military aircraft, and aircraft types we don't know, aren't on a leaderboard. You can be on more than one leaderboard: fly the week's airport in a Cessna and in a 777 and each landing goes on its own board.

Most weeks run all four. Some airports are for small aircraft only or airliners only (narrow- and wide-bodies), so a jet isn't squeezed onto a tiny strip; those weeks only have those leaderboards. The page, the app card and the Discord post all say which kind of week it is.

What counts is the aircraft you actually flew in the sim, as CAVacars 2 recorded it, not just the one you booked. The touchdown speed has to fit too: small aircraft at 110 kt or less, business jets at 80 kt or more and airliners at 90 kt or more. If your landing didn't count, the challenge page tells you why.

The score

It's the landing score from your detailed flight report, out of 100: half for the touchdown itself and half for how you used the runway.

The touchdown:

• Rate of descent matters most. Up to 120 fpm costs nothing, a normal airline arrival of up to 300 fpm costs a little, and anything harder costs a lot.
• G force above 1.3 G.
• Bounces: 10 points each, up to 20.
• Bank (a wing low) above 2°, crab (not lined up with the runway) above 3°, and pitch (nose wheel first, or so high you risk a tail strike).

The runway:

• Touchdown point: in the touchdown zone. Floating long, landing in the first 60 m, or touching down before the threshold costs points.
• Centreline at touchdown and on the rollout.
• Height over the threshold: 20 to 80 ft costs nothing; lower or higher costs points.
• The rollout: running off the end or leaving the runway at speed costs a lot, and so does turning off too fast or stopping with little runway left.

A crash scores 0, and a landing with the sim sped up isn't scored. On a tie, whoever landed first wins. More about the score in Your flight report.

Prizes

• The Landing Challenge Champion award, every time you win a leaderboard.
• The Challenge Winner achievement: Bronze for 1 win, Silver for 3 and Gold for 10.
• Your name on the past winners list and a shout-out on Discord.
• Each leaderboard has its own winner, so there can be up to four winners a week.

Tips

• Read the note about the airport before you go, and check the weather and the runway in use.
• Fly a stable approach and aim for a gentle, straight touchdown. A smooth 100 fpm with the wings level beats a 30 fpm landing with a bounce.
• Not happy with it? Fly it again. Only your best one counts.