Whether it’s self-directed, ATC requested, caused by weather or traffic, or any other combination of conflict, a go-around should be routine. You began learning about the go-around during the early stages of training as a primary flight student and you will probably never stop learning and training go-arounds throughout your career.
The importance of proper training and procedure for the completion of a go-around is essential. This is often a low-speed, low-altitude maneuver. Getting the procedure wrong or completing the steps in the wrong order can only complicate the issue. The primary concerns are always flying the aircraft, maintaining a safe airspeed, cleaning up the gear and flaps, and climbing away from the ground. Aircraft manufacturers generally have a recommended procedure for completing a go-around and they tend to follow a common theme: throttle, flaps, gear.
When a go-around is called for, a simultaneous pitch-up and power-up should be executed. Reduce approach flaps to either take-off flaps or an intermediate flap setting. Generally, reducing the flaps from full or approach flaps to full up is not recommended because of the sudden loss of lift. Once a positive rate of climb is established the gear can be retracted. Once climb speed has been reached, pitch for that airspeed and make the final flap retraction.
Most turbine-powered aircraft are equipped with flight directors that guide the pilot, depending on how the flight guidance controller is configured. The pilot may initiate the go-around by pressing the Take-Off/Go-Around (TOGA) button. This will command the flight director to a predetermined pitch suitable for the go-around and will generally remain there until either a specified duration of time has expired or the airspeed has reached a preset minimum.
Experiencing an engine failure during the go-around or executing a go-around from a single-engine approach can make things pretty interesting. As always, maintaining aircraft control is paramount. During a single-engine go-around this is especially important. The aircraft will be in a dirty, high-drag configuration with low airspeed and plenty of asymmetrical thrust. Maintaining airspeed above minimum control speed with the critical engine inoperative (VMC) or takeoff safety speed (V2) is essential.
In a multi-crew environment the workload is always divided between the pilot flying and the pilot monitoring. This maneuver is a perfect example of how having two crew members can reduce errors and workload. This helps ensure that the pilot flying can focus on the important job of maintaining aircraft control, and throughout the go-around he will direct the pilot monitoring to clean up the aircraft as appropriate.
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