Too many applicants believe that once they?re on final approach, they must land. Somewhere they heard the myth that to go around is disqualifying, but the truth is just the opposite. Usually, examiners see the go-around as a sure indicator of good judgment. If your landing seems doubtful, fear not the throttle! You will find this reassurance in your private pilot practical test standards, Area of Operation IV, under Task H.
Because the PTS asks you to exhibit knowledge of the go-around?s principles, your examiner might ask you to describe situations that would compel you to abort the final approach. Uncomfortably low base-to-final turns, undershooting or overshooting the turn to final, the possibility of landing before or after your intended touchdown point, wake turbulence, physical hazards on the runway, even overtaking a slower aircraft on final are all worthy go-around scenarios.
Your examiner might concoct a scenario (my personal favorite is ?Pigs on the runway!? nearing short final) or may simply trust that the need will arise during a landing. Some examiners hold their go-around questions until finishing with simulated forced landings. Because page v of the PTS introduction calls for realistic distractions during the test, some examiners use the go-around to feign passenger curiosity ? ?Why are you going around??
If such a situation arises, the PTS expects you to make a timely decision to discontinue the approach to landing. Your examiner knows that at anytime while on final you might perceive the need to go around, but the earlier you make the decision, the better. In reality, and in your examiner?s mind, an early decision makes for a safer flight.
The need to go around is usually clue-induced. Once you are established on the final approach, your sight picture should tell you whether the approach will finish as planned. To defer your go-around decision until the visual clues scream at you jeopardizes the success of your checkride. Go-around decisions made close to the surface are more critical. But you must never stop assessing the approach because last-second surprises, such as ?pigs on the runway,? are always possible.
Once you resolve to abandon your approach and go around, your examiner (and the PTS) expects you to apply takeoff power immediately. The Flight Training Handbook, AC 61-21, notes that normal technique includes pitching up to arrest the descent (although your aircraft?s checklist may differ slightly from this sequence). This transition to the appropriate climb pitch attitude for your airplane?s VY (+10/-5 knots) contains some critical aerodynamic factors. How safely you manage these factors is important to the examiner ? and to your safety.
If your airplane has flaps, your examiner will note carefully how you retract them (intermittently, in small increments, is preferred). This technique gives the airplane time to accelerate. Sudden, complete flap retraction can dump enough lift to cause an airplane to settle into the ground. Because they move slowly, electric flaps reduce this risk compared to manual flaps, which operate as quickly as the pilot can move the flap handle in the cockpit. But mishandling electric flaps can leave you in a bad situation.
Some pilots fly their checkride in complex airplanes. They score points with the examiner by retracting the wheels after the airplane has established a positive rate of climb. Unless the manufacturer specifies otherwise, examiners consider it wise to reel in the flaps, at least partially, before raising the landing gear.
The reason is that ? on most retractable-gear airplanes ? fully extended flaps produce more drag than do the extended landing gear. Also, if you initiate a go-around while the airplane is close to the runway, the airplane may touch down before beginning to climb. In that situation it?s better for everyone if the landing gear is down, too.
Once established in a climb to traffic pattern altitude, the PTS says to maintain takeoff power until you reach it, then set the power for transition to the appropriate traffic pattern airspeed. During this phase of the go-around the examiner is as alert as a bounty-hunter because the airplane, probably trimmed for the low power and low airspeed of the approach, is suddenly at takeoff power. Unless you control it firmly, the airplane?s nose can rise sharply and veer to the left.
It may take appreciable forward elevator pressure to overcome a low-power, nose-up trim setting at full power and sustain a safe climbing attitude. As always, rudder input counteracts torque and P-factor to keep the nose straight. Regardless of how much control pressure the airplane demands, you must hold the proper flight attitude.
Throughout the climb the PTS requires you to maintain directional control and proper wind-drift correction. Some checklists do not specify that you re-trim the aircraft, but your examiner will probably see it as a worthy application of your aeronautical knowledge if you at least relieve any heavy control pressures with a rough trim change. You can do this before retracting the landing gear, or delay it if control pressures are already light.
As you clean up the airplane (retract flaps incrementally, and retract the gear) and climb to traffic pattern altitude, your go around is not complete. The PTS can surprise an applicant because it requires you to comply with noise abatement procedures, as appropriate. This simply means to the examiner that you adhere to existing noise abatement procedures on a go-around, just as on any takeoff.
Finally, the PTS directs you to complete the appropriate checklist. The timing of this item has been debated for years, but the essential PTS criterion for using a checklist during go-arounds lies in division of attention. Don?t surrender control of the airplane to fly the checklist. Most examiners are satisfied with a checklist review once you?ve completed the go-around. If this is an issue for you, question your examiner on this point before you take the practical test.
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