The Go-Around, the Stabilized Approach Criteria, and the Three-Second Window Where Students Make the Wrong Call

The go-around is one of the most safety-critical maneuvers in basic flight training and one of the most under-practiced. A well-executed go-around requires a specific sequence, applied in order, with positive aircraft control throughout. The pilots who execute it reliably are the ones who treat it as a policy decision made before the approach - not a judgment call made at 150 feet with the runway rushing up.

Why the Go-Around Is a Skill, Not a Failure

The NTSB has documented dozens of accidents where the contributing factor was a continued approach that should have been abandoned. Runway overruns, hard landings, unstabilized approaches salvaged at 50 feet above the ground. The pattern is consistent: the pilot knew something was wrong, chose to fix it rather than go around, and it didn’t work.

The go-around is a demonstration of judgment. A crisp, well-executed go-around impresses examiners. A salvage attempt ending in a hard touchdown 2,000 feet down a runway that isn’t that long does not.

What Does a Stabilized Approach Actually Look Like?

A stabilized approach means the airplane is configured, trimmed, and established on a constant glidepath at the correct airspeed, aligned with the runway centerline, before reaching a specific gate. In visual conditions, most flight schools put that gate at 500 feet AGL. Some use 300 feet. Below that altitude, correction time is gone - the runway is the runway.

The stabilized approach criteria for most light singles:

• On or near the extended centerline
• On a stable three-degree glidepath, with the runway numbers sitting still in the windscreen rather than rising or falling
• At the approach speed specified in the POH, within five knots, not swinging wildly
• Configured for landing - flaps in the landing position, gear down if applicable
• Descent rate of 1,000 feet per minute or less
• On the correct side of the power curve - not dragging in with idle throttle from too high, not pushing through with excess power

If criteria break down above the gate, there may still be time to correct. Below 500 feet AGL, if the approach isn’t right, the answer is go-around.

When Should You Decide to Go Around?

The go-around decision must be a policy made before the approach, not a judgment call made under pressure at a hundred and fifty feet. The brain is biased toward completion. The runway is right there, the flight has been long, and the desire to land is powerful. That bias works directly against sound decision-making at the worst possible moment.

Before turning final, say it out loud: “My go-around criteria are speed, glidepath, and centerline. At 500 feet, if I don’t have all three, I’m going around.” Then commit to it. If you blow through the gate without a stabilized picture, go around - especially if you think you could make it. That discipline in training is what makes the response automatic when the situation is real and there is no time to think.

How Do You Execute a Go-Around Correctly?

The go-around is not simply pushing the throttle and climbing. There is a sequence, and the sequence matters.

Step 1 - Power: Apply full throttle (or maximum power for the aircraft) as smoothly and quickly as possible. The airplane needs energy to climb and it needs it immediately.

Step 2 - Pitch: Simultaneously establish a climb attitude - not steep, but a normal, positive climb. Target Vx (best angle of climb) with obstacles ahead; target Vy (best rate of climb) in clear airspace.

Step 3 - Right rudder: Adding full power on a single-engine airplane with a clockwise-rotating propeller creates P-factor, torque, and slipstream effects that all push the nose left. The force is stronger than many students expect because the transition is sudden - from reduced-power final, with flaps out and trim set for descent, to full power all at once. Apply firm right rudder immediately to keep the nose tracking straight.

Step 4 - Flaps: Retract incrementally, in stages, as airspeed builds. The POH specifies the sequence. Most procedures call for retracting from full flaps to an intermediate setting first, then completing retraction after a positive rate of climb is established and obstacles are cleared.

Step 5 - Communicate: At a nontowered airport, broadcast on the CTAF: “Traffic, Cessna four seven romeo is going around runway two-seven, remaining in the pattern.” Traffic behind you now knows you are climbing and turning crosswind rather than landing.

Step 6 - Rejoin the pattern: The go-around does not end when the nose is pointing up. It ends when you are established back in the pattern - on crosswind, then downwind, at pattern altitude - and ready for another approach. Get focused on where you are in the circuit.

Why Is Flap Retraction the Most Dangerous Mistake?

When going around with full flaps extended, the instinct is to retract them immediately - clean up the airplane, reduce drag, climb. This is the most dangerous mistake in the maneuver.

Full flaps produce significant drag, but they also produce significant lift. Yanking all flaps up at once while the airplane is low and slow removes the lift before airspeed has a chance to build. The airplane sinks. Without altitude to absorb that sink, the result can be catastrophic.

Retract in stages, as specified in your POH. You are managing energy through the transition, not pulling the rug out from under the airplane at the moment it needs support most.

How Do You Handle a Ballooned Flare?

A ballooned flare happens when the airplane floats during the flare and climbs back to 15 or 20 feet, still flying, with airspeed bleeding away and the end of the runway approaching. The correct response is an immediate go-around.

The two wrong responses are pushing the nose forward - which causes a hard drop onto the nose gear - or holding the flare until the airplane stalls two feet above the runway. Neither outcome is within checkride standards. A prompt, clean go-around from a ballooned flare is.

What Does the ACS Require for the Go-Around on the Checkride?

The Airman Certification Standards (ACS) for the private pilot certificate evaluate the go-around in the takeoffs and landings task area. The standards require initiating a go-around from a simulated ballooned landing, a bounced landing, a high flare, or at the examiner’s direction.

That last condition is important. Examiners sometimes call for a go-around when the approach looks perfectly fine, specifically to test response time and execution quality. Practice that way - have your instructor call it at unexpected moments, low and high, on speed and slightly fast. The transition from I was about to land to I am now climbing away must be crisp.

The examiner is watching for positive aircraft control throughout: the nose tracks straight, the wings stay level, the airspeed does not decay to a stall warning. You are flying the airplane through the maneuver, not reacting to it.

How Do You Manage Trim During a Go-Around?

On final approach, the airplane is trimmed for a descent at approach speed. Applying full power and pitching to a climb attitude means holding significant back pressure against that trim - while simultaneously managing right rudder and staged flap retraction. It is a busy moment.

The technique is straightforward: fly first, retrim second. Hold the attitude with control pressure. Stage the flaps. Get the airplane climbing. Retrim as conditions allow. Trying to retrim before the aircraft is under control puts priorities in the wrong order.

Key Takeaways

• A stabilized approach requires correct airspeed (within ±5 knots of POH approach speed), a stable glidepath, centerline alignment, proper configuration, and a descent rate under 1,000 fpm - all achieved by the 500-foot AGL gate
• The go-around decision must be a pre-committed policy, not a negotiation at 500 feet or below
• The execution sequence is: power → pitch → right rudder → flaps (staged) → communicate on CTAF → rejoin the pattern
• Never retract full flaps all at once - incremental retraction prevents a dangerous sink from sudden lift loss
• A go-around from a ballooned flare is the correct, ACS-standard response; a salvage attempt is not
• Fly the airplane first; retrim only after the climb is established