What are the five criteria for a stabilized approach?

On the correct glidepath, on centerline, at the correct approach airspeed, in the correct configuration (flaps as planned), and with a consistent controlled sink rate. All five must be met simultaneously.

At what altitude should I decide to go around?

Make the decision at **500 feet AGL** on a standard approach. By that point the approach should already look stable. Waiting until 200 feet or the flare leaves you with far fewer options.

Will going around hurt my checkride?

No. The Airman Certification Standards include a dedicated go-around task and examiners want to see the decision made cleanly and executed smoothly. Continuing a dangerously unstabilized approach is what generates critical comments.

How do I retract flaps during a go-around?

Incrementally, as airspeed builds - never all at once. A single full flap retraction in a slow airplane can cause an abrupt loss of lift. Confirm a positive rate of climb before retracting further.

What should I do if the wind shifts on short final and my airspeed drops?

Apply full power immediately and execute a go-around. Do not pull back without sufficient power - doing so risks an accelerated stall at an altitude where recovery is not possible.

The Stabilized Approach, the Five-Hundred-Foot Gate, and the Go-Around Decision That Has to Be Made Before You Ever Get There

A stabilized approach is not a technique reserved for airline crews. It applies to every landing you will ever make, in every aircraft. And the decision to go around must be made at 500 feet above the ground - not at the flare, not at 100 feet, but at 500 feet, while you still have options.

What Does a Stabilized Approach Actually Mean?

Five criteria must all be met simultaneously before you cross the threshold:

On the correct glidepath
On centerline
At the correct approach airspeed
In the correct configuration (flaps set as planned)
Consistent, controlled sink rate - not ballooning through thermals and slamming back down

All five. Together. At the same time. If two or more are off simultaneously, the approach is not stabilized.

What Is the Five-Hundred-Foot Gate?

The airline industry formalizes this concept as a stabilized approach gate: 500 feet AGL on a precision approach, 1,000 feet AGL on a non-precision approach. Below that gate, everything must be stable or the crew goes around. No exceptions.

General aviation has no equivalent hard regulatory requirement, but the Airman Certification Standards (ACS) for the private pilot certificate make the expectation clear. Examiners look for a stabilized approach, airspeed maintained within +10 / -5 knots of target, runway alignment, and - critically - demonstrated judgment about when a go-around is the right call.

That last item is where most students struggle.

How Do You Know When to Go Around?

By 500 feet AGL, the approach should already look like what it’s going to be. You should be on or smoothly correcting back to glidepath. You should be close to target airspeed. The runway should be framed in your windshield the way it looks on every good approach you’ve flown.

Normal deviations do happen. A thermal pitches the nose up, the PAPI briefly shows three white and one red, you apply a little forward pressure and reduce power slightly, and you’re back to two red and two white within a few seconds. Airspeed stayed stable throughout. That’s not a go-around situation - that’s normal flying.

Now consider a different scenario: four white lights (significantly above glidepath), airspeed seven knots fast, and right of centerline - all at once, below 500 feet. Any one of those might be correctable with an early, calm response. All three together is an unstabilized approach. The go-around decision should already be made.

Why Do Pilots Continue Unstabilized Approaches?

The mental trap is familiar: the runway is right there, the instructor is watching, other pilots are in the pattern. Going around feels like announcing a mistake to the entire airport.

That instinct is worth confronting directly. Your examiner is not going to fail you for going around. The ACS includes an entire task dedicated to the go-around and rejected landing. Examiners want to see the decision made and the execution done smoothly. What earns critical comments is continuing a dangerously unstabilized approach and somehow managing to stop on the last thousand feet of pavement.

Every experienced pilot you’ve admired has gone around. Some go around every week. It is a mark of sound aeronautical decision-making, not of failure.

What Does a Correct Go-Around Look Like?

The sequence, executed with practice, takes under ten seconds:

Smooth application of full power
Pitch to a positive climb attitude - not excessive, just flying away from the ground
Establish climb speed
Retract flaps incrementally as speed builds - never all at once; a full flap retraction in a single motion in a slow airplane can abruptly reduce lift
Confirm positive rate of climb before retracting further
Announce on CTAF at a non-towered airport: something simple like “Cessna four five six, going around”
Rejoin the pattern at the appropriate point for existing traffic

The sequence has to be practiced until it’s automatic. When the moment arrives, there is no time to think through each step.

What About a Wind Shift on Short Final?

This scenario deserves specific attention because it happens fast. You’ve been flying a textbook approach. At around 200 feet, the wind shifts. The airspeed indicator drops. The glidepath steepens. Now you are low, slow, and behind the power curve inside 200 feet.

The instinctive reaction is to pull back. Resist that. Pulling back with insufficient power in a slow airplane close to the ground is a setup for an accelerated stall at an altitude where there is no recovery. The correct response is full power and a go-around, every single time.

Visualize this scenario during your pre-flight briefing. That mental rehearsal is what keeps the decision fast when you actually need it.

The Brief That Locks In the Standard

Before every flight, before every approach, brief yourself - out loud if it helps you commit to it:

“If I am not on speed, on centerline, and on glidepath by 500 feet above the ground, I go around.”

You set that standard on the ground, before any pressure exists, before any adrenaline is in the picture. Then you hold to it.

The FAA’s Airplane Flying Handbook states it plainly: the go-around is a normal procedure. It should be executed promptly and without hesitation whenever the situation calls for it.

Hesitation is expensive. The moment of well, maybe I can salvage this costs altitude. It costs options. Fly the whole approach, not just the last hundred feet. If the approach is telling you no at 500 feet, believe it.

Key Takeaways

A stabilized approach requires all five elements simultaneously: glidepath, centerline, airspeed, configuration, and sink rate
The 500-foot AGL gate is your personal decision point - if the approach isn’t coming together there, go around
The ACS requires airspeed within +10 / -5 knots of target and rewards demonstrated go-around judgment
A go-around is a normal procedure, not a failure - and it must be practiced until the execution is automatic
A wind shift on short final demands immediate full power and a go-around; pulling back without sufficient power risks an accelerated stall with no altitude to recover