Decision Making and Loss of Control Inflight (LOC-I) Part 5

Go Around Procedures - General

What follows is the generic go around procedure from chapter 8 of the FAA AFH, where they bring up what they call the 3 cardinal principles of the go around: power, attitude, and configuration. Check your Airplane Flight Manual (AFM) to see if they have a specific procedure that differs from the generic one. Many of us bounce around between different airplanes. The go around procedure in one aircraft may not be the same as in another. See the FAA illustration below.

Power and Attitude go together once the decision to go around is made. Full power must be applied immediately, but smoothly. Don’t forget to get rid of the carb heat if it is on, and the propeller control should be forward (if you have one). Get the mixture forward if it isn’t already.

Most airplane landing checklists bring the propeller control to low pitch/high rpm and the mixture to rich in preparation for a possible go around. For those without printed checklists the GUMPS mnemonic vocal checklist (Gas-fullest tank, Undercarriage-down, Mixture-rich, Propeller-high rpm, Seatbelts/Shoulder Harnesses/Switches-on/as required) will take care of most of these items ahead of time.

Add power smoothly enough so the engine doesn’t falter or overboost.

Enough right rudder (in a clockwise turning American engine) must be added so that no change in heading occurs as power is added. Left rudder must be added for Russian or British engines.

Also, enough forward pressure must be added so the airplane doesn’t pitch up into an unsafe attitude due to trim. More on that later.

Make sure you are not sitting so far back that you cannot add the necessary rudder and elevator. Make sure the seat is firmly locked in position. We’ve had accidents where the seat slid full back once power was added, keeping the pilot from adding the forward pressure and rudder needed.

Don’t be in a hurry to start your climb. As you see in the picture above, the first thing you should do is level off and gain some speed before beginning the climb. That makes pitch a 2-stage process – level first, power, gain airspeed, configuration, then climb.

Your approach speed with full flaps may be too slow for a climb with partial flaps. Don’t try to climb prematurely and stall the airplane. More speed will also help with making the rudder more effective against the power-generated turning tendencies.

Pitching to level flight while adding full power is important for another reason.  If you just add power without pitching to a level flight attitude you will just be going downhill faster. 

Trim Stall, Trimming, and Where to Look

Now we must address trim and the “trim stall” possibility.  With the trim set for the approach, with low, or idle thrust, the addition of full power is going to cause the airplane to pitch up strongly. Accidents have occurred on the go around as power was added because the pilots did not push hard enough on the stick or yoke to stop the pitch up. The stall, and the yaw from power due to failure to add enough rudder, came soon after. The result was a crash beside the runway.

The FAA suggests a “rough trim” at this point. The more horsepower you have, the harder the pitch up will be to fight. After you level off and attain a safe airspeed, get rid of most of the adverse elevator forces with a coarse adjustment of your trim control. A final trim can be done later when things have stabilized in the climb.

The power/attitude elements bring up another question.  Where are you looking during the go-around??  Assuming you are in VMC, as you begin the go around maneuver you must quickly get your vision out to the horizon. Only in looking out ahead of the aircraft, as far in front of the aircraft as you can, will you see what your pitch attitude is and if your aircraft is holding heading. 

Practice where you look as you practice your go arounds. The pilot has a high workload in the beginning phase of the go around, and attention must be in the right place to “fly the airplane” successfully. Many pilots are way more “head down” inside the cockpit than they should be during their go arounds.

Go Around Procedures – Flaps and Gear

Deal with the flaps first, then the gear. From the FAA AFH Ch 8:  “Unless otherwise specified in the AFM/POH, it is generally recommended that the flaps be retracted (at least partially) before retracting the landing gear—for two reasons. First, on most airplanes full flaps produce more drag than the landing gear; and second, in case the airplane should inadvertently touch down as the go-around is initiated, it is most desirable to have the landing gear in the down-and-locked position. After a positive rate of climb is established, the landing gear can be retracted.”

After the level off is accomplished and some speed is gained, go to a partial flap setting or the takeoff flap setting, as recommended by the manufacturer’s AFM. The Cessna 150’s and 172 want you to go immediately to flaps 20, for example. Most Pipers want the last notch of flaps removed. Don’t retract the flaps all the way at this point. That could cause the airplane to stall or settle into the ground. Retract the rest of the flaps later, during the climbout, and in increments.

Additional Go Around Decision Factors

The decision to go around must be made early enough so that obstacle problems are avoided. Make allowances for a heavy airplane, a hot day, or a small engine. Late go arounds can lead to not clearing trees or obstacles off the end of the runway – and stalling trying to get over them. As an example, one pilot was landing too far down the runway and was too fast. He started the go around late, when well down the runway, and collided with trees.

Each approach and landing must be evaluated separately, and your planning brain must be sizing up the situation each time. 

Is the airplane going to be able to land in the first 3^rd of the runway? Is the approach stabilized? Is field short, downhill, or does it have obstacles off the end? Is the Density Altitude high, or is the engine small? 

If so, go around sooner. 

Keep your mind ahead of the airplane, grasshopper. Come up with a point where you would go around if you are not stabilized, meaning configured and on speed, or it looks like you won’t make your desired touchdown point. Don’t wait until 20’. It could be something like 300’ or 400’ AGL, on final. Take a breather, break your target lock, and see if you should keep going, avoiding target fixation. Build that decision point in.

Most of the airlines have now done so, even on visual approaches. Visual approaches are the most likely to be unstable. Airlines now require a stable point in space, usually 1000 ft AGL on the approach. You must be on the glideslope, glidepath, or PAPI, you must be fully configured, on speed, and have the Before Landing checklist completed. Both pilots must call out “stable.”

If any of these conditions are not met a go around must be performed. Also, any crewmember can call for the go around, and it HAS to be honored.

Remember the military’s 6 “P’s.”  Proper Planning Prevents Piss-Poor Performance! Proper planning doesn’t just mean planning on the ground. Here it also means planning 10-20 seconds ahead of the aircrafts’ position.

What About Other Traffic, Wake Turbulence, and ATC?

To make matters worse, the go around is not always a solo operation. During a go around you may be dancing with another aircraft. 

At many busier tower airports, whether they be corporate or airline-type airports, the controllers will run the departures and arrivals quite tightly. What would happen if something required you, the landing aircraft, to go around? Now you could be conflicting with the departing aircraft.

If there is a single runway you may have departing traffic rolling and lifting off only a little bit before you are about to touch down. With two close parallel runways an aircraft may be lifting off on the next runway just as you are about to land. These conditions could also occur at a busy non-tower airport. 

In the case of a go around you may be accelerating into the airspace that the departing aircraft is trying to occupy.  First of all, keep the other guy in sight. As the fighter pilots say, “Lose sight, lose fight.” You may also have to side-step a bit to keep the other aircraft in sight. Have you thought about which direction you might side-step before it is required?? Always have an “out.”

The FAA is now issuing instructions to ATC to modify their procedures so that a go around by the landing aircraft does not cause a traffic conflict with departing traffic. You as the PIC, however, should be thinking about a possible go around on every landing. 

You also need to think about wake turbulence. Make sure you are not flying into the wake of the departing aircraft.

Maneuvering Margins and Airspeed Maintenance

The following statement is not completely correct, but it has made people afraid to bank the aircraft: That 60 degrees of bank is 2g’s, with a 40% increase in stall speed. 60 degrees of bank is actually NOT 2g’s. 60 degrees of bank, with enough back elevator to hold altitude, THAT puts 2g’s of load on the aircraft. It is about the elevator, not the bank. If you roll into 60 degrees of bank but don’t pull back hard and are in a descending turn, you are putting less than 2g’s on the aircraft.

Since people are afraid to bank the aircraft, they are more likely to stop banking and start “ruddering the nose around,” which is how the spin begins. While maneuvering you MUST remain coordinated.

You can see in the illustration to the right, from Rich Stowell’s EMT manual, that all of the aircraft below have 30 degrees of bank. The starting aircraft is in the center on the right. From there you either go up, or down, or over to the left.

The g-load, however is different in every case depending on the elevator position, which sets the angle of attack, or AOA, of the main wing. That AOA multiplied by the air velocity squared and the air density creates the pounds of lift force.

Those pounds of lift force, acting perpendicular to the wing, and compared to the airplanes’ resting weight, creates your g-load. 1500 lbs of lift against a resting weight of 1000 lbs  = 1.5 g’s of load factor. Easy.

That load factor affects your body as well. In my previous example you would also feel 1.5 times heavier than your normal weight. You are in fact a carbon-based g meter. Learn to be sensitive to that heaviness. You feel the load factor the airplane feels. Since you are in charge of the elevator you are in charge of the g-load.

Where you point your perpendicular lift arrow is controlled by your bank angle.

Don’t be afraid of 45 degrees of bank. 45 degrees of bank, with enough back elevator to hold level flight, puts 1.4g’s of load on the aircraft. That amount of back pressure will increase the stall speed 18%, not 30 – 40%. 30 degrees of bank, with enough back elevator to hold level flight, increases stall speed 8%.

Remember, 45 degrees = 18%. 30 degrees = 8%. Those are better numbers to memorize. You could round them up to 20% and 10% if you wish.

The normal approach speeds in the manual for Best Glide speed, Vbg, clean, and for each flap setting are approximately 30% over that particular stall speed. That is your maneuvering buffer. At 45 degrees of bank, if adding enough elevator to hold level flight, that gives you a 12% margin over stall. More if you’re descending.

Am I suggesting we do all of our turns in the pattern or on the go around at 45 degrees of bank? Of course not. But I am informing you that you have more margin while banking than you may realize. But you have to stay coordinated at all costs. Fear of the increase in stall speed from banking causes people to stop banking and start “rudder-ing the nose around.”

No excess of yaw = No Yaw-Roll Coupling. No Yaw-Roll Coupling = No spin.

Adding a few extra knots on top of approach speed, like +5, is a good idea when doing a lot of maneuvering or when flying in gusting conditions. That is why it is so important to maintain your airspeed as you maneuver.  Don’t get slow! 

Looking at the drag curve to the right for a clean wing, approach speed is a little faster than best endurance speed shown. The curves for each flap setting look similar. Stay at or above approach speed for that flap setting, and stay out of the area of reverse command. The drag on the airplane rises exponentially there, giving less excess power to get out of a bad spot.

Summary

So, if the pilot is thinking far enough ahead of the aircraft they can usually see an unsafe situation developing early. Listening to the radio can also give early clues. If so, the pilot can either slow down to minimum safe approach speed, modify the approach pattern, or go around. 

Again, the earlier the decision to go around can be made, the less heart-stopping it can be to all concerned.

Lastly, don’t fly too slow. 

As the tongue-in-cheek saying goes, “Lose not thy airspeed, lest the ground rise up and smite thee.” Getting slow while being distracted by other things can be a killer. 

Oshkosh arrivals are an extreme example, where crashes have occurred when a pilot got slow, or “rudder-ed the nose around” causing a spin entry.

Do you have the moral courage to go around while every pilot in the world is watching?

So, the “simple” go around is not so simple, and it must be thought about and practiced like any other important maneuver. It is your “get out of jail free” card.  You might want to keep that baby dusted off.

Thank you for attending. Please see the other parts of this series.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4