A go-around is not a failure. On the checkride, a well-executed go-around at the right moment demonstrates exactly the kind of pilot judgment examiners are looking for. Pressing on with a bad approach is the failure.
What the ACS Actually Requires
The ACS for go-arounds/rejected landings requires:
- Make a timely decision to discontinue the approach
- Apply full power immediately and establish a climb pitch attitude
- Configure the aircraft appropriately (flaps, trim) for the climb
- Maintain directional control throughout
- Track the extended runway centerline until a safe altitude is reached
- Return to the traffic pattern and report intentions
There is no published altitude below which you cannot go around — the ACS says you must make a timely decision. The examiner is watching whether you recognize the problem before it becomes worse.
The Most Common Errors
- Waiting too long — students commit to a bad approach because going around feels like admitting failure
- Not going to full power immediately — a hesitant power application puts you in a slow, low, energy-depleted state
- Retracting flaps all at once — causes an immediate sink; retract in stages
- Letting the nose drift off centerline — torque from full power plus slow airspeed = left-turning tendency; use right rudder
- Forgetting to communicate — the tower or CTAF needs to know your intentions
How to Execute It Correctly
- Make the decision — say "going around" out loud; commit fully
- Full power, simultaneously
- Establish a climb pitch attitude — resist the urge to zoom; control the attitude
- Carb heat off (carb heat is for descent only; it reduces power)
- Flaps: retract from full to approach flap setting first, wait for positive climb rate, then retract fully
- Trim for the climb
- Track the extended centerline — don't cut the corner back to the pattern
- Communicate: "Tower, [N-number], go-around"
- Re-enter the traffic pattern and set up for another approach
Why Students Fail This on Checkride Day
They don't go around when they should. That's the real failure — not the mechanics of the go-around itself. Examiners regularly see students salvage unstabilized approaches that should have been abandoned. When it works, they got lucky. When it doesn't, they bust.
The mental block is the feeling that going around means you failed the approach. It means the opposite: you recognized a problem and corrected it. That's PIC judgment.
Checkride Ready helps you identify the exact point in your approaches where patterns break down — so you can build the habit of making that go-around decision early, every time.
Keep Training
- Short Field Landing Explained Step by Step — understanding what a stabilized approach looks like makes go-around decisions easier
- Emergency Descent: When to Use It and How to Execute Correctly — another high-stakes decision-making maneuver