Is a "Go Around" an unfamiliar manoeuvre to a student pilot?

You never know. Around here a bear could run out onto the runway.
--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor

After landing at Mt Pocono (MPO) two weekends ago, the fuel guy told
me a bear had run across the runway while I was on downwind...
Alas, that wasn't the kind of traffic I was looking for at that
moment.

On Thu, 12 Jul 2007 09:13:16 -0400, Dudley Henriques
wrote:

David Wright wrote:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/essex/6294778.stm

Interesting that a "Go Around" is considered here as an "unfamiliar
manoeuvre" - and that the pilot was "put in a situation beyond his
experience" - okay he only had 15 hours of flying time and it was only his
second solo, but I was doing touch and go's and going around from about my
third hour onwards.

I wasn't allowed to solo until I had demonstrated I was proficient at
making regular landing, short field landing, go arounds, and balked
landings.


D.


A "go- around" is NOT an unfamiliar maneuver; at least it shouldn't be
to any student who has been checked out for solo. In fact, go arounds
are an intricate part of the learning curve and should be taught to
every student pilots before solo is achieved.
I can see no reason why a properly training student pilot would be
incapable of going around during any solo flight that student was signed
off to make.

I have to relate to my own experiences but with about as many hours as
this student I was faced with an unexpected weather change that
required going around due to excessive cross wind, using a different
runway, and having to do an aggressive slip to get the plane down due
to the rapid pressure change making for an altimeter several hundred
feet off.

Not too many days later I landed to find a Comanche 180 landing down
wind and getting big, fast.

HOWEVER a couple years ago we had a post solo student coming in to
land who got too low. He over corrected with power, slowed up to lose
altitude and turned a 150 into a lawn dart right on the end of the
runway. He really put it right on the numbers with a roll out measured
in a couple of inches. Surprisingly he only had a few bruises, but the
150 which now had shoulders in the wings where the struts attached
wasn't so lucky. He apparently was still flying "mechanically" and
when things weren't what he expected he became "rattled" and over
reacted. He had flown great up until that time. He proved proficient
enough to solo with another instructor, but was required to put on a
few more hours. His flying was again more than adequate and he flew
for nearly a year. Actually it was one day less than a year when he
came in to land a 172. This time he was a bit high and pushed the
nose down which of course gave him some extra speed. With such a light
plane it doesn't take much extra to make it float and float and
float.... With about 2/3 of the runway behind him he forced it on
instead of going around. That put the nose wheel down followed by the
mains, followed by a steep climb which was repeated until he again
turned a plane into a lawn dart on the runway. Again he received only
bruises while the 172, like the 150, gained a set of shoulders and the
FBO gained a BIG increase in his insurance rates. At this point he
decided to quit flying. (BTW he said he has no idea as to why he
didn't go around as he had been trained.)

A good friend and licensed pilot who hadn't flown in a couple of
months took another friend out for a ride. (should have at least gone
around the pattern once alone). The flight went well and they were
out for about an hour before she decided it was time to get back. She
had been flying out of a larger airport so 3BS would have looked a bit
different but I would have expected her to be low instead of high. At
any rate she recognized the need to go around and did, but the second
time was also high. So around they went again. This time she was in a
better position but still a bit high. It was when they were still in
the air about half way down the runway and only a few feet off that I
realized that she was going to land this time regardless. She should
have almost been able to hear me with out a radio, but she did set it
down. I 172 disappeared in a cloud of tire smoke as it slid up to the
end of the runway. When the smoke cleared she had just enough room
left to make the turn and taxi to the parking.

Another friend flying a twin picked me up at HTL when I took the Deb
up for maintenance.The winds were bad and popped him up about 50 feet
just as the mains were ready to touch. Full power and a lot of
wobbling while hanging on the edge of a stall managed to salvage the
landing into a go-around. He was gone for a few minutes before
returning. (probably to find all the seat cushions) He chose to wait
until the wind subsided before coming back.

When we arrived at 3BS the wind favored 36 slightly but 06/24 is 800
feet longer. We came in to land on 36 kinda fast as he was still
spooked from the earlier landing. So I didn't think much about being a
bit high and fast over the numbers, but we were still fast over the
intersection, and still 20 feet off as we passed the FBO a third of
the way down the runway and maybe 5 feet off half way down. It was
about this time I had the sudden realization of: "Ohhhh myyyyGAWDDD,
he's gonna do it!" I had to set on my hands to keep from taking the
controls. He plunked it on and we S-turned from one side of the runway
to the other to the tune of squealing and liberally smoking tires. We
skidded around the turn onto the taxiway at the end of the runway
within a couple feet of the lights. Had he set it down 15, 10, or
even 5 feet farther down the runway we'd have taken out the lights at
the end.

That was the only time I've ever really been scared in an airplane.

Pilots with different experience levels from low time student to multi
engine with over a 1000 hours. Aircraft from a Piper Colt, Cessna 150,
172, and Twin Comanche making choices based on pressure and
unfamiliar circumstances. Some good decisions, some bad, some with a
good outcome, two of those due to luck, and some with poor outcomes,
but still involving luck to survive.

What makes a pilot (student or experienced) make the proper decisions
over an over, some times for years, and then suddenly seem to ignore
all that training and do something contrary to common sense and
training? Incidents are always due to a sequence or series of actions
(or inaction) and I doubt any of these incidents were isolated
happenings, but I have to ask, what training, attitudes, emotions, or
background led to each end choice or action. "I think" in a couple of
cases there were probably clues that all of us missed. When I say all
of us I include not only instructors but other pilots who had flown
with the licensed pilots. I do realize different people react to
stress differently under the same circumstances.

If a student crashes on a go around because normal procedures were not
followed, there is a serious problem either involving the instructor.
Even if mis-communication was a factor, the student STILL should have
been able to handle the situation avoiding a crash.
I look heavily toward the instructor in matters like these.
This having been said, I ALSO would reserve any final decision on these
matters until I had studied the official accident report.
Dudley Henriques

On Fri, 13 Jul 2007 21:43:50 -0400, Dudley Henriques
wrote:

C J Campbell wrote:
On 2007-07-12 16:49:32 -0700, Dudley Henriques said:


You never know. Around here a bear could run out onto the runway.

Controller to United 262 Heavy after touchdown ;
" 262, bear left at the next taxiway"

United 262, " Roger, we have him in sight"

Uhhh..I don't see him.

Roger

Roger (K8RI) wrote:
On Fri, 13 Jul 2007 21:43:50 -0400, Dudley Henriques
wrote:

C J Campbell wrote:
On 2007-07-12 16:49:32 -0700, Dudley Henriques said:


You never know. Around here a bear could run out onto the runway.
Controller to United 262 Heavy after touchdown ;
" 262, bear left at the next taxiway"

United 262, " Roger, we have him in sight"

Uhhh..I don't see him.

Roger
Big furry guy, over there.....by the ILS shack.....see um?
D

"Mike Isaksen" wrote in message
news:xegmi.3743$yx4.3191@trndny08...

"Peter Dohm" wrote in message ...

It is possible that the kid simply forgot to retract the flaps, but I
have
seen enough poor procedures and worse information around airports to
make
me
extremely suspicious.


I like what you said about the 150/152 in general, but I think you missed
the section in the report where the Throttle was found at approach power
settings (as indicated by the bent throttle shaft, analysis of the
carburator butterfly shaft, and confirmation by observers of low/normal
engine noise), and the carb heat knob was still pulled out. I don't
remember
reading if he retracted the flaps, but he did not appear to initiate the
one/two steps of the go-around proc.

You are correct, I did miss that--I looked at the report on screen, rather
than printing it, which would have resulted in more thorough reading.

Also telling (no doubt to bolster the Controller's case in the report) was
that when the student called from the hold short line and told to
backtrack
(back taxi) the runway, the student instead did a 180 turn at the hold
short
line. The controller intended to buy the student wake vortex time, and
instead of holding him at the intersection was going to give the student
the
whole runway. The student's action should have set off some alarm bells in
the controller's head. Then again, maybe this is a "normal" level of skill
for students trained and released for solo by this fight school. Very sad.

The student may have had an "off day" and simply did not have enough
experience to ground himself. As you said, very sad.

Peter

On Sun, 15 Jul 2007 07:56:59 -0400, Dudley Henriques
wrote:

Roger (K8RI) wrote:
On Fri, 13 Jul 2007 21:43:50 -0400, Dudley Henriques
wrote:

C J Campbell wrote:
On 2007-07-12 16:49:32 -0700, Dudley Henriques said:


You never know. Around here a bear could run out onto the runway.
Controller to United 262 Heavy after touchdown ;
" 262, bear left at the next taxiway"

United 262, " Roger, we have him in sight"

Uhhh..I don't see him.

Roger
Big furry guy, over there.....by the ILS shack.....see um?

That's the FBO without a shirt!

D

Roger (K8RI) wrote:
On Sun, 15 Jul 2007 07:56:59 -0400, Dudley Henriques
wrote:

Roger (K8RI) wrote:
On Fri, 13 Jul 2007 21:43:50 -0400, Dudley Henriques
wrote:

C J Campbell wrote:
On 2007-07-12 16:49:32 -0700, Dudley Henriques said:

You never know. Around here a bear could run out onto the runway.
Controller to United 262 Heavy after touchdown ;
" 262, bear left at the next taxiway"

United 262, " Roger, we have him in sight"
Uhhh..I don't see him.

Roger
Big furry guy, over there.....by the ILS shack.....see um?

That's the FBO without a shirt!

D
Kind of makes ya wish Pamela Anderson was an FBO doesn't it :-)
D

"Dudley Henriques" wrote

Kind of makes ya wish Pamela Anderson was an FBO doesn't it :-)

Pamela Anderson, with fur under her shirt? Shudder

Man, I need to go wash my eyes out with soap, to get the bad taste out of
them!
;-))
--
Jim in NC

Morgans wrote:
"Dudley Henriques" wrote

Kind of makes ya wish Pamela Anderson was an FBO doesn't it :-)

Pamela Anderson, with fur under her shirt? Shudder

Man, I need to go wash my eyes out with soap, to get the bad taste out of
them!
;-))
Don't blame me. It's ROGER with the bear fetish!!!!
:-))))))))))
D

On Sun, 15 Jul 2007 19:23:44 -0400, Dudley Henriques
wrote:

Morgans wrote:
"Dudley Henriques" wrote

Kind of makes ya wish Pamela Anderson was an FBO doesn't it :-)

Pamela Anderson, with fur under her shirt? Shudder

Man, I need to go wash my eyes out with soap, to get the bad taste out of
them!
;-))
Don't blame me. It's ROGER with the bear fetish!!!!
:-))))))))))
Hey! You're the one with the fixation on my topless FBO:-)))))

D