diff --git a/tools/re-capture/wait_flight.sh b/tools/re-capture/wait_flight.sh
index a3b5b4c..6ee36f3 100755
--- a/tools/re-capture/wait_flight.sh
+++ b/tools/re-capture/wait_flight.sh
@@ -5,23 +5,34 @@
 # stage load and the objective card. Under lavapipe that is not a constant: one
 # run needed 75 s, the next was still in Raymond's dialogue at 140 s, so the A
 # meant for the OBJECTIVE card was swallowed by the cutscene and the card sat
-# there forever.
+# there forever. So poll, and tap A every few seconds until the HUD appears
+# (which dismisses the objective card whenever it happens to be up).
 #
-# The in-flight HUD is unmistakable: the SHIELD bar is a solid bright green
-# block at the bottom of the screen, and no cutscene or menu has anything green
-# there. So poll that pixel, and tap A every few seconds until it appears (which
-# dismisses the objective card whenever it happens to be up).
+# 🔴 REWRITTEN 2026-08-23. This script used to test ONE NAMED PIXEL, (450,640),
+# "inside the SHIELD bar". It is not inside anything: `screenshot` crops to the
+# GAME SURFACE, which is **1279x675**, while those constants were picked for a
+# 1280x720 window — (450,640) lands in the gap between the SHIELD bar (green rows
+# 590-605) and the ARMOR bar (650-670) and reads (64,66,116), blue. Measured on a
+# frame that was unmistakably in flight, `TIME 01:18.05`, while this script sat
+# there reporting nothing and tapping A into the cockpit every six seconds. That
+# is exactly the failure `screen_id.py`'s own header warns about, and it is why
+# the corpus already carried "wait_flight.sh reported NEVER REACHED FLIGHT while
+# the game was plainly in flight" as an unexplained note.
+#
+# So classify by WHOLE-IMAGE statistics instead, which no crop or scale can move:
+# the flight HUD paints green over the entire frame (green fraction 1.3-1.5 %,
+# against <0.1 % on every menu), and that is `screen_id.py`'s `flight` class.
 #
 # Same liveness rule as skip_intro.sh, for the same reason: a failed screenshot
-# leaves r/g/b unset, they default to 0, the green test fails, and waiting for
-# the HUD becomes indistinguishable from waiting for a dead emulator.
+# leaves the classification unset and waiting for the HUD becomes
+# indistinguishable from waiting for a dead emulator.
 set -u
 export HOME=/sylph-home/re
 DISP="${DISPLAY:-:98}"
+SD="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
 alive(){ ps -o pid=,stat= -C xenia_canary 2>/dev/null | awk '$2 !~ /^Z/ {print $1}'; }
 DEADLINE=$(( SECONDS + ${1:-240} ))
-PX=450; PY=640            # inside the SHIELD bar of the flight HUD
-last_tap=0
+hits=0; last_tap=0
 while [ $SECONDS -lt $DEADLINE ]; do
   rm -f /tmp/wf.png
   if ! screenshot /tmp/wf.png >/dev/null 2>&1 || [ ! -s /tmp/wf.png ]; then
@@ -30,16 +41,20 @@ while [ $SECONDS -lt $DEADLINE ]; do
     sleep 2; continue
   fi
   [ -n "$(alive)" ] || { echo "EMULATOR GONE at ${SECONDS}s"; exit 4; }
-  read -r r g b < <(convert /tmp/wf.png -format \
-    "%[fx:int(255*p{$PX,$PY}.r)] %[fx:int(255*p{$PX,$PY}.g)] %[fx:int(255*p{$PX,$PY}.b)]" info:)
-  if [ "${g:-0}" -gt 140 ] && [ $(( g - r )) -gt 60 ] && [ $(( g - b )) -gt 60 ]; then
-    echo "IN FLIGHT at ${SECONDS}s (HUD shield bar visible)"
-    exit 0
-  fi
-  if [ $(( SECONDS - last_tap )) -ge 6 ]; then
-    python3 "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/pad.py" tap A 0.3
-    last_tap=$SECONDS
+  cls="$(python3 "$SD/screen_id.py" /tmp/wf.png | awk '{print $1}')"
+  if [ "$cls" = "flight" ]; then
+    hits=$(( hits + 1 ))
+    # Two consecutive frames: one green-heavy frame could be an explosion in a
+    # cutscene. Do not tap A once flight has been seen — in the cockpit that is
+    # a weapon/target press, not a "continue".
+    [ $hits -ge 2 ] && { echo "IN FLIGHT at ${SECONDS}s (screen_id: flight)"; exit 0; }
+  else
+    hits=0
+    if [ $(( SECONDS - last_tap )) -ge 6 ]; then
+      python3 "$SD/pad.py" tap A 0.3
+      last_tap=$SECONDS
+    fi
   fi
   sleep 2
 done
-echo "NO FLIGHT HUD within ${1:-240}s"; exit 1
+echo "NO FLIGHT HUD within ${1:-240}s (last: ${cls:-none})"; exit 1