Page 32 - Twin and Turbine June 2017

along with the published missed approach procedure once configured and stable on final, will make the ordeal dreamy instead of nightmarish. And it will help to limit the number of things you must “fix” after you are finished with it. An excellent technique is to tell yourself on every approach (IMC and VMC) at about 5 miles: we are going around, get ready. Whisper the litany to yourself, and then be ready. I also like to add: we have enough gas to do this twice more before we divert. If you get to land instead, well, you’ve done that a million times. Piece of cake. But remember, you can still go around even after initial touchdown. Maybe because of a runway incursion, for example. The final red line for a go-around decision in most jets is once you deploy the reversers. After you pull that trigger, you are normally committed to the surface.
SAMs and The Big Kahuna
Washington is a city of Southern efficiency, and Northern charm.
– John F. Kennedy
In past articles, we’ve discussed routing options for takeoff including those for an engine failure on takeoff (SIDs, ODP’s and EOSIDs). Some airports also have a special use airspace avoidance procedure for departures and go-arounds. Ronald Reagan (DCA) has a particularly significant routing. There is a ground track for north takeoffs and go-arounds to avoid national landmarks and our leaders working in and around prohibited area P-56. And they’re serious about it, including rumors of SAMs (surface-to-air missiles), small- arms fire and all flavors of pilot certificate nastiness. Maybe
Washington Reagan (DCA) special use avoidance airspace.
an engine coughing during the missed isn’t the most intense of possible outcomes after all.
And therein lies the difficulty with my go-around at DCA. Our story’s opening scenario is what I had, except for the dropped pen and untied shoes. And there was indeed a 40-knot tailwind from about 15-mile final to the marker. I didn’t get the jet slowed down in time to be configured by our stable approach decision point and spacing with the aircraft in front of us was also getting tight. When I initiated the go-around, the nose pitched up. While trimming nose-down, distance was passing by on the avoidance procedure. Fortunately, the go-around was initiated four or 5 miles out on final, so all was good by the time we reached the first turn of the avoidance ground track. No SAMS fired or noise complaint from The Big Kahuna. It was embarrassing though. Especially since we heard about the tailwind from other airplanes. I guess I hadn’t pre-whispered the litany thoroughly enough.
Familiarity Breeds, Well, Familiarity
In most jets, in addition to the operating manual, there are operator or training department-developed litanies for both common and uncommon events. In order of likelihood, typical litanies are for normal takeoff, two engine go-around, engine failure on takeoff and single-engine go-around. They’re not created as a replacement for operating manual procedures, system malfunctions or abnormal procedures. Although due to infrequency, a missed approach or go-around could easily be classified as such. Similar to a memory mnemonic like GUMP, these litanies serve as a supplemental memory jogger and are by design, succinct yet complete. Consisting of just enough of
Washington Monument is the tallest landmark in Washington, D.C.
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