Going, going, go around

Aviation's best survival tactic is ready when you are

September 5, 2005 By Budd Davisson

"I've never gone around in my life. When I turn final, I'm committed to land."

Sound like someone you know? That's a quote from a reasonably low-time student pilot who was transitioning into a very high-performance general aviation airplane. He had already wrecked an airplane on landing and saw no connection.

"I'm going around, the profile isn't good."

The speaker was a high-time Boeing 747 captain whom we were transitioning into smaller GA airplanes, and the approach was actually pretty good. You'd have to be nitpicking to say it was being done wrong, yet this professional pilot wasn't happy with it and was going around.

So, what's the point? It is never wrong to go around, but not going around is quite often wrong.

We're not certain exactly when it happened, but somewhere, somehow a sizeable percentage of the pilot population got it into their heads that going around was a sign of weakness and they were likely to be criticized for it. Criticized by whom? Certainly not us. Not the aforementioned 747 captain. The only time you're likely to be criticized on a go-around is for either not doing it or waiting too long to make the decision.

Here's a not-to-be violated rule of aviation that obviously is violated all the time: If, at any time in the approach or landing, right into final flare, you feel as if it isn't right, go around. Simple as that: If it isn't right, go. We're all flying because we love it, so drop the hammer and add five more minutes to your logbook.

All that having been said, however, there are ways of going around and there are ways of going around, and what works in one airplane might not be the best approach in another.

Boiled down to basics, a go-around is nothing more than increasing the power before touching the ground and climbing back up to traffic-pattern altitude. In some airplanes it actually is that simple. But the more complex the airplane and the more powerful the engine, the more factors that come into play. Let's discuss how they should be handled.

Trim

Trim affects a go-around in every airplane, but the effect--specifically a pitching up of the nose with the addition of power--changes greatly with increased power and speed. In an aircraft such as a Cessna 152, the modest amount of trim required, combined with its relatively low power, won't result in a pitching-up of the nose during a go-around--this is the most serious hazard short of flying into the ground. In other words, when power is fed in with trim still set for final approach airspeed, the combination of the small amount of trim and low power doesn't present the pilot with any serious problems in keeping the nose down. As the power is applied, the yoke is held forward, and then the trim rolled forward as needed.

This applies to nearly all GA airplanes because it's part of the certification process: The pilot must be able to manage the airplane in a full-power, full-trim go-around. However, in many high-powered airplanes, especially when loaded to the aft range of their center of gravity, the nose may try to pitch up more aggressively, and the pilot has to be ready. This is most problematic when the airplane is deep into the flare and slow.

Flaps

This is where Piper and Cessna airplanes part ways because of the different flap systems and the way the aircraft respond to them. Most other aircraft that have flaps will behave somewhere between the two.

The plain-hinged flaps of the Piper series are nowhere near as effective or drag-producing as Cessna's big Fowler flaps. Even at full deflection, they produce only a mild downward pitch of the nose during the approach and, when full power is added, their moderate pitch-up force is easily managed.

The back-and-down action of Fowler flaps actually increases the wing area slightly. At the same time they make a much greater change in the wing's camber. As a result, they generate more lift--and more of the drag that inevitably accompanies lift. Where a pitch-up in a Piper won't result in much immediate change in airspeed, if a Cessna is allowed to pitch very far the larger amount of drag being generated will begin bleeding off airspeed almost immediately. The amount of forward pressure needed on the yoke in the Cessna is only slightly higher than that required for the Piper, but the greater amount of drag from the flaps also means it won't accelerate as quickly.

On any go-around with flaps, life becomes much easier if the flaps are retracted as soon as practical. Reread that sentence. We said "...as soon as practical," not immediately. Retracting the flaps immediately means the lift being generated takes an incremental drop, and the airplane is likely to do the same thing--drop. At the same time that the lift is being reduced while the flaps are retracting, the drag is also decreasing, which allows the airplane to accelerate faster. We want the airplane to accelerate at a rate that will generate enough lift to replace that being lost by retracting flaps, and we want to do that at a rate that maintains altitude. Virtually any GA airplane will maintain altitude if you gradually retract the flaps after the power has been applied and the pitch stabilized as recommended in operating handbooks.

Generally, the procedure is:

Power: increase
Elevator pressure: apply
Stabilize at full power while holding the nose down
Flaps: gradually retract
Climb speed: establish
Trim: reset

Don't try to trim the elevator pressure out before the flaps are up because you'll have to retrim. If you trim the airplane to cancel the nose-up pitch while the flaps are still down, the trim will want to push the nose toward the ground when you retract the flaps. Just overpower the trim until the flaps are up.

Crosswinds/gust spread

Since the airplane shouldn't touch the ground in a normal go-around, a crosswind shouldn't be a factor other than keeping the airplane on the runway centerline. The gust spread, however, has to be considered if the go-around is initiated in ground effect during the flare.

A normal five-knot gust spread won't even be noticeable, but if you're working in one of those nasty, sharp-edged 12- to 15-kt gusts, be aware that if you initiate the go-around at the peak of a gust and it dies, it'll take part of your airspeed with it. If that happens just as you've added the power before the airplane has had a chance to accelerate, the airplane could settle. If the gusts are strong enough, this could even skip you off the runway. If this happens, fight the urge to pull the nose up to counter the sink. Because the flaps are still down, the airplane is still extremely "dirty" and all too ready to lose speed. If you pull the nose and the gust doesn't come back, expect to strike the runway.

The period during which you're vulnerable is just a matter of seconds, but it does exist.

Let's talk about some real-life go-around scenarios.

Bad bounce

First, let's define the difference between a ricochet, a bounce, and when it's a good idea to be somewhere else right now.

A ricochet is one of those skipping affairs where you've come in a little hot and let the airplane settle on and it skips like a flat stone on a pond. When this happens, the airplane is almost always well above stall speed and loses very little or no energy while skipping off the runway. It is still a flying airplane, so the only action required is to fly it back down to the runway and land. No need to go around unless you're uncomfortable with the process of relanding it, or you've skipped too far down the runway.

A bounce is much slower than a ricochet. Here, the airplane generally impacts the ground with a more vertical vector and the resulting movement is more aggressive. The rebound is more vertical, so you suddenly find yourself at 15 feet with absolutely nothing going for you. First you have to make a quick decision: Do I save the landing or go around? Our vote is to go around. Even though you might be able to save the landing, why take the risk? Lower the nose slightly to keep the bounce from going higher, and at the same time add full power and balance the urge to climb with the need to build speed. Both hands go forward at the same time, yoke and throttle. Hold it level until you have it stabilized, ease the flaps up, go for climb speed, and retrim.

Hard sinker on short final

Some parts of the country--Arizona, for example--are renowned for turbulence and especially the big downdraft on very short final. You'll be coming down final fat, dumb, and happy when suddenly the airplane develops a definite affinity for the ground. Some power is obviously called for, but should we go around? Probably not. A little power will arrest the rate of descent, and you can land it from there.

If you do decide to go around, it's a normal go-around.

Shear on short final

One of the least-examined wind phenomena that leads to a go-around is a nasty little 10-kt wind that snaps back and forth from in front of the wing to behind it without changing velocity. If you see this wind behavior, be ready to react because if it catches you on short final, you'll have your hands full.

What makes this wind so dangerous is that, as it changes direction instantaneously from 10-15 degrees in front of the wing tip to the same angle behind the tip, it creates a very pronounced wind shear. This instantly steals airspeed from the airplane, causing it to fall. It's absolutely amazing how quickly it can go from being a flying machine to an anvil. This is one of those situations where there's no room for finesse as you add power and hold the nose in position for a second to accelerate, then pitch up just a little to break the descent rate. These are real heart-stoppers. Don't even think about trying to save the landing. Add power and then get the flaps up, and while you're climbing, remember to take a breath, since you probably stopped breathing back on final.

There are dozens of reasons to go around, but the decision to do so should be made as early as possible in the approach when you have the most altitude and speed available. If you're having any sort of problem, anywhere in the approach, go around and try it again.

Budd Davisson is an aviation writer/photographer and magazine editor who has written approximately 2,200 articles and has flown more than 300 different types of aircraft. A CFI since 1967, he teaches about 30 hours a month in his Pitts S-2A Special. Visit his Web site.