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4 Answers

Touch & Go procedure

Asked by: 1794 views ,
Aerodynamics, Commercial Pilot, Flight Instructor, General Aviation, Private Pilot, Student Pilot

Looking for guidance, suggestions or critique on Touch & Go procedures…

I’ve always taught, and was taught, to apply power first, and then raise (drag) flap. If you rotate before this, remaining in ground effect is an option. The rationale is two-fold: “fly the airplane”, don’t waste valuable runway or risk mis-configuration by rushing because power hasn't been set; and secondly, power first is treating the manoeuvre the same as a Go-Around or Balked landing.

In multi-crew operations, the Pilot Monitoring will raise the flaps, set stab trim etc, while thrust is advanced (but not necessarily set for takeoff). But we shouldn’t try to treat these two worlds the same! While I would be comfortable either way in an SEL with typical runway length, I’m less inclined to delay application of power in a light twin.

Recently on several checkouts at different locations, instructors have appeared somewhat alarmed/startled that flaps were not raised first. My fault, I should have briefed it. After explaining the rationale, they appear to accept this alternative.

Is there a best practise or recommendation, or is it just “we've always done it this way…”?

What should I be teaching? Risk management would suggest power first, and the POH doesn’t mention the manoeuvre, only the go-around procedure.

Appreciate any comments or suggestions. Thank you.

 

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4 Answers



  1. John D Collins on May 28, 2022

    I am not answering your direct question, but my advice is not to do touch and goes. When I operated a flight school, I did not permit them. In my opinion, they were counter productive, all the student or pilot worried about was the go and very little was learned on the landing part. We averaged around 45 hours to get a private pilot certificate, well under the national average in the 60’s.

    If the aircraft is a multi engine or retractable gear aircraft, you are asking for a gear up scenario. So I recommend a full stop and taxi back with a standard post landing and pre takeoff check.

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  2. awair on May 28, 2022

    Thank you John,

    That is excellent advice, and matches one of my underlying concerns.

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  3. KDS on May 31, 2022

    One thing you should factor into your consideration if you do choose to do a touch and go with power first and then flaps is you might find yourself back in the air with more flaps than you want or flaps in transit.

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  4. Russ Roslewski on May 31, 2022

    I agree with John, but to answer your question as asked, I’d say that if you’re worried about having enough runway left after you take time to raise the flaps, your runway is not long enough to do touch and goes.

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