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5 Answers

Positive rate of climb

Asked by: 15087 views Commercial Pilot, General Aviation

when do you actually declare positive rate of climb?

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5 Answers



  1. John D Collins on Apr 18, 2015

    Once the airplane is clearly climbing and not likely to settle. I use either visual indications or the VSI going from negative or zero to indicate a positive value on a missed approach, go around, or takeoff. My mantra on a missed approach is power, pitch, positive rate, gear up.

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  2. Brad on Apr 18, 2015

    Yup! Two indications. Altimeter and VSI. Always verify.

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  3. Jeff on Apr 18, 2015

    Keep in mind that the VSI indication will show an immediate change in vertical direction, but lags by about 6-9 seconds in showing the actual rate of climb/descent due to airflow restriction of the calibrated leak. Practically speaking this means that once the needle starts moving upward you will have established a positive rate of climb. So the indication for positive rate I teach is the needle moving upward. It does not have to be at zero or above. I believe this is particularly important when executing a missed approach in IMC as you want to get the aircraft cleaned up and climbing as quickly as possible.

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  4. KiwiInstructor on Apr 22, 2015

    to maintain a “positive rate” you must have a safe and stable airspeed with an indication of altitude gain ie: ALT or VSI , a low and decreasing airspeed means you are converting airspeed (kinetic) into altitude (potential)

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  5. jonathan clark on Mar 11, 2017

    What if you dont have positive climb

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