Originally Posted by Skybird

Are you familiar with the meaniong of the red-white lights left of the beginning of the runway? They are rough altitude advisors.

There are four lights in a horizontal row, and ideally you want to see - no matter your distance from the airport! - two whites, then two reds. This means you are on a tolerable altitude considering your distance from the airport.

The meanings are:

W-W-W-W : way too high. If very close to airport: go around

W-W-W-R : a bit too high

W-W-R-R : good, on or very close to ideal glidepath

W-R-R-R : too low, correct

R-R-R-R : way too low, pull up. If very close to airport: go around.

It does not matter what your distance is from the airport, if you can see the PAPI lights, they indicate to you your altitude regarding a perfect 3° glideslope. WWRR you can only see constantly if not leaving the GS envelope. For that, your sink rate for the most will be around 700 ft when having established final approach speed.