The Go-Around, the Decision That Has to Be Made Before the Runway Numbers Arrive, and the Sequence Errors That End More Checkrides Than Students Expect

The go-around is one of the most practiced maneuvers in private pilot training, yet it remains one of the leading reasons checkrides end early. The problem is almost never that students don’t know the steps. The problem is they wait too long to use them.

Why Do Students Fail Checkrides on the Go-Around?

The failure is almost always a timing failure, not a technique failure. Students manage a deteriorating approach all the way to short final, hoping the picture will improve, until they are either committed to a bad landing or initiating a go-around from 50 feet with no energy margin and maximum workload.

The FAA Airman Certification Standards (ACS) places the go-around under the Landings task area and requires that applicants recognize conditions requiring a go-around and act promptly. That word is not incidental. It means early - before the runway becomes a constraint.

What many students don’t know: designated pilot examiners sometimes anticipate a go-around scenario and are hoping the applicant calls it. A clean, early go-around followed by a solid second approach demonstrates decision-making, technique, communication, and situational awareness in a single maneuver. Some examiners have told students directly, after the fact, that the go-around was the moment they decided to pass them.

What Does a Stabilized Approach Actually Mean?

A stabilized approach requires four conditions met simultaneously: correct glide path, correct airspeed, correct configuration, and runway centerline tracking. All four, at the same time, by a defined altitude.

For a visual approach in a light single, that altitude is approximately 300 feet above the ground (some instructors use 500 feet; the specific number matters less than the concept). If the airplane is not stable by that point, the answer is not to try to fix it. The answer is to go around.

Stability isn’t just about whether the numbers are right at that moment - it’s about whether the airplane is trending toward stable or away from it. An airplane that is on glide path but requiring large pitch corrections every scan is not stable. An airplane that is on speed but driving hard from above to intercept the path is not stable. Stable means trimmed, power set appropriately for the descent rate, and small corrections - not chasing the picture.

The data behind the stabilized approach standard is unambiguous. The vast majority of approach and landing accidents involve a decision to continue an unstabilized approach.

Why Do Pilots Keep Flying a Bad Approach?

There is a psychological component that doesn’t get discussed enough. Going around feels like admitting failure. The approach is bad, everyone can see it, and continuing feels like salvaging the situation.

An examiner in the right seat sees it differently. A student who calls the go-around at 400 feet, executes it cleanly, and sets up a solid second approach has demonstrated judgment, discipline, and skill. A student who wrestles a bad approach into a landing has demonstrated one thing: she got lucky.

The go-around is not failure. It is the correct decision made at the correct time.

What Is the Correct Go-Around Sequence?

The sequence is: power, pitch, right rudder, verify, retract. In that order, every time.

Power is first. Full throttle, deliberately. Not a gentle increase. The airplane needs to transition from a descent to a climb, and it cannot do that on partial power.

Pitch comes up simultaneously with the power. In a Cessna 172, the go-around pitch attitude looks like a normal climb - approximately 5 to 7 degrees above the horizon. The goal is to arrest the descent and transition to a climb, not zoom.

Right rudder comes with the throttle. This is the most commonly missed input. Full power in a propeller-driven airplane produces strong left-turning tendencies from P-factor, torque, and spiraling slipstream. The right foot should be moving toward the rudder pedal the moment the hand reaches for the throttle - anticipate it, don’t react to it.

Verify positive rate of climb before retracting flaps. This is the step that gets rushed, and it is the step that causes accidents. If the airplane has not yet accelerated through the transition, pulling the flaps back dumps lift faster than the engine can replace it. The airplane sinks - toward whatever is below it.

Retract flaps in stages. From 30 degrees, come back to 10 degrees first. Hold there until a positive climb rate is established and obstacles are clear. Then retract the remainder.

Always reference the pilot operating handbook for the specific go-around procedure in your airplane.

What Are the Most Common Go-Around Mistakes?

Retracting flaps before power is established. This is the most dangerous error and the one most likely to end a checkride. Sequence matters. Power, then pitch, then verify rate, then flaps.

Pitching too aggressively. Under urgency, pilots pull. A nose-high attitude with full power and flaps still extended leaves the airplane slow and barely climbing. The stall warning horn will confirm it. Target Vy - 76 knots in the Cessna 172. The ACS tolerances are plus 10, minus 5 knots of the target airspeed, and plus or minus 100 feet of altitude during climb-out. Those numbers are achievable, but only if you’re flying attitude and cross-checking airspeed - not staring at the runway.

Not communicating. At a towered airport, tell the tower: “going around.” At an uncontrolled field, announce on the CTAF. During the checkride, say it out loud. It shows the examiner you are thinking about the traffic picture, not just the airplane.

Hesitating on the decision. The three-second pause hoping the picture will fix itself is what gets circled on the form.

What Is a Balked Landing and How Is It Different?

A balked landing is a go-around initiated from the runway surface during or just after touchdown - perhaps because of a long touchdown or an unexpected obstruction. The technique is identical to a go-around from altitude, but the energy state is completely different. The airplane may be at or below flying speed and in or near ground effect. That transition feels different from 500 feet, and it should be practiced specifically. Ask your instructor to include balked landings in training if you haven’t done them recently.

How Do You Build Go-Around Discipline Before the Checkride?

The decision has to be made before the approach starts, not on short final. Before every approach, brief yourself: if I am not stable by 300 feet, I am going around. That rule is already set. There is nothing to decide in the moment.

On every training flight, hold yourself to that standard. At 300 feet, the airplane is either stable or you are going around. No extensions, no negotiating.

Simulator access - even a basic desktop setup - provides repetitions without fuel cost. The decision-making muscle develops the same way in a sim as in the airplane. If simulator access isn’t available, visualization works. Close your eyes, fly the approach mentally, let the picture go wrong, and say the words out loud: going around - full power - pitch - right rudder - positive rate - flaps to ten. It sounds excessive until the hands are already moving when you need them.

Key Takeaways

• The most common go-around checkride failure is timing, not technique - students wait too long to call it
• A stabilized approach requires glide path, airspeed, configuration, and centerline tracking - all four, simultaneously, by 300 feet AGL
• The correct sequence is power, pitch, right rudder, verify positive rate, retract flaps in stages - never pull flaps before confirming a positive climb
• In a Cessna 172, target Vy of 76 knots; ACS tolerances are +10/-5 knots on airspeed and ±100 feet on altitude
• A clean go-around followed by a solid second approach is excellent checkride flying - it demonstrates judgment, not failure