Touch and Goes versus Full Stop Taxi Backs

A CFI I had lunch with last week suggested I should always do full stop taxi
backs instead of touch and goes when practicing landings. I've frequently
done touch and goes for about an hour when I wanted to do some quick flying,
but I tried his suggestion. I also ran into an old AOPA Flight Training
magazine that had an article suggesting full stop taxi backs instead of
touch and goes. I generally keep the pattern in tight and can do ten touch
and goes in about .8 or .9 Hobbs depending on the amount of other traffic. I
prefer towered airports for this practice, because there is another set of
eyes looking for aircraft.

Should I force myself to always do full stop taxi backs, even thought other
pilots and tower personnel seem to prefer that I do touch and goes? Kevin
Dunlevy

I always have my students do full stop. Things can happen very, very
fast and any problem with the aircraft or enviroment (winds, etc) are
just a bit harder to manage during a touch and go. I teach at one
airport with a 4K foot runway and I require my students to taxi back. I
teach at another with a 12,000 foot runway and I allow them to stop and
go on the runway.

BTW: I could pretty much guarantee you that the tower couldn't care
less.
-Robert, CFI

Hi Kevin

The ideal scenario would be to fly to a runway that is long enough for
you to do stop and go's, provided that it isn't too far away.

You don't say whether you are flying dual or solo.

Dual, a stop and go allows your instructor much more time to critique
your landing.

Solo, the landing isn't complete and safe until the plane stops. You get
to practice full landings, plus - what a great chance to practice
shortfield and softfield takeoffs - obstacle - crosswind etc.

I was reading a couple of months ago that some schools don't even allow
touch and go's anymore.

HTH

Tony
--

Tony Roberts
PP-ASEL
VFR OTT
Night
Cessna 172H C-GICE



In article ,
"Kevin Dunlevy" wrote:

A CFI I had lunch with last week suggested I should always do full stop taxi
backs instead of touch and goes when practicing landings. I've frequently
done touch and goes for about an hour when I wanted to do some quick flying,
but I tried his suggestion. I also ran into an old AOPA Flight Training
magazine that had an article suggesting full stop taxi backs instead of
touch and goes. I generally keep the pattern in tight and can do ten touch
and goes in about .8 or .9 Hobbs depending on the amount of other traffic. I
prefer towered airports for this practice, because there is another set of
eyes looking for aircraft.

Should I force myself to always do full stop taxi backs, even thought other
pilots and tower personnel seem to prefer that I do touch and goes? Kevin
Dunlevy

On 2005-09-12, Kevin Dunlevy wrote:

Should I force myself to always do full stop taxi backs, even thought other
pilots and tower personnel seem to prefer that I do touch and goes? Kevin
Dunlevy

Depends on how bad you need taxi practice

More seriously, if you feel rushed by the touch & go's then the taxi
back can give you time to settle down.

In the Pitts I do touch & go's but I make sure to slow down enough to
brush up on slow speed control before powering back up.

In a training context, I would rather taxi back myself while discussing the
just-completed landing with the student. After certification, I have nothing
against T&Gs except for the concerns about trying to do too many things at
once. That is a personal decision that has to be made by each individual
based on his or her assessment of proficiency.

Number of landings per hour is a meaningless figure.

Bob Gardner

"Kevin Dunlevy" wrote in message
...
A CFI I had lunch with last week suggested I should always do full stop
taxi
backs instead of touch and goes when practicing landings. I've frequently
done touch and goes for about an hour when I wanted to do some quick
flying,
but I tried his suggestion. I also ran into an old AOPA Flight Training
magazine that had an article suggesting full stop taxi backs instead of
touch and goes. I generally keep the pattern in tight and can do ten touch
and goes in about .8 or .9 Hobbs depending on the amount of other traffic.
I
prefer towered airports for this practice, because there is another set of
eyes looking for aircraft.

Should I force myself to always do full stop taxi backs, even thought
other
pilots and tower personnel seem to prefer that I do touch and goes? Kevin
Dunlevy

Kevin Dunlevy wrote:
A CFI I had lunch with last week suggested I should always do full stop taxi
backs instead of touch and goes when practicing landings. I've frequently
done touch and goes for about an hour when I wanted to do some quick flying,
but I tried his suggestion. I also ran into an old AOPA Flight Training
magazine that had an article suggesting full stop taxi backs instead of
touch and goes. I generally keep the pattern in tight and can do ten touch
and goes in about .8 or .9 Hobbs depending on the amount of other traffic. I
prefer towered airports for this practice, because there is another set of
eyes looking for aircraft.

Should I force myself to always do full stop taxi backs, even thought other
pilots and tower personnel seem to prefer that I do touch and goes? Kevin
Dunlevy

No. I'm curious though, what is the rationale given for avoiding T&Gs?

Matt

Depends upon how long the runway is.

If I'm in a bonanza, I'll do full stop, as there are a lot of things
you have to do (gear, etc), plus the hobbs only runs when weight is not
on the gear. So taxi time is free, so why not? You get to log that
time.

If I'm in a Charokee, I'll do mainly T&G unless traffic or runway
legnth becomes a factor. In a simple airplane, all you need to do is
pretty much retract flaps.

The subject of touch and gos in the student scenario has been a long time
pro and con issue in the industry and the answers will vary . A lot will
depend on where you fly and the runway and traffic conditions at that
location as to weather or not touch and gos are either useful of
recommended.
Personally, from a flight instructor's point of view, I initially prefer
full stop landings with primary students, then possibly touch and gos later
along the learning curve as conditions dictate or permit. Toward this aim, I
always took students into the pattern initially by flying to and using
outlying fields that were conducive to this type of instruction if flying
out of heavily controlled environments.
I firmly believe that the time spent with the student BETWEEN patterns is
invaluable for teaching purposes. It gives the student time to relax and
absorb a critique on what has just been done; what changes are recommended
by the instructor; and also allows time for the student to think about those
recommended changes before the next take off.
This of course describes the dual situation.
Solo patterns by students should be adjusted to suit conditions and the
desired goal of the training mission as set forth by the instructor.
Remember.......it's the quality of the work, not necessarily the quantity of
the work that matters! :-)
I have no objection to a well supervised and well checked out student doing
touch and gos on runways where traffic conditions and runway length suggest
a better use of time for the student. In fact, part of a student's training
involves balked landings and go arounds. Touch and gos are the perfect
opportunity to practice these essential pilot skills.
Keep in mind, I said "well checked out". This would include a thorough
coverage by the instructor on the skills mentioned above BEFORE entering
this environment.
Dudley Henriques


"Kevin Dunlevy" wrote in message
...
A CFI I had lunch with last week suggested I should always do full stop
taxi
backs instead of touch and goes when practicing landings. I've frequently
done touch and goes for about an hour when I wanted to do some quick
flying,
but I tried his suggestion. I also ran into an old AOPA Flight Training
magazine that had an article suggesting full stop taxi backs instead of
touch and goes. I generally keep the pattern in tight and can do ten touch
and goes in about .8 or .9 Hobbs depending on the amount of other traffic.
I
prefer towered airports for this practice, because there is another set of
eyes looking for aircraft.

Should I force myself to always do full stop taxi backs, even thought
other
pilots and tower personnel seem to prefer that I do touch and goes? Kevin
Dunlevy

If there's an instructor or safety pilot on board, it's useful to have
him chartered at any time to say (loudly) "Fly the Miss!" or whatever
is your term might be. It's important training: deer walk onto runways,
and airplanes taxi out, sometimes when you're in the flare. Mooneys and
I expect other complex airplanes when coming down with full flaps deep
well into the flare require some attention when you're no longer
trying to lose energy, but gain it. After you've got the yoke out of
your lap and the throttle to the wall you may want to think about flap
setting and then cowl flaps: you should have had the prop and mixture
forward already, right?

For the record, I don't like Touch and Goes on short runways, but 5000
feet gives you more than enough time to slow down to a walk, do a
little reconfiguring of the airplane, then go again. It also gives you
time to practice spot landings, right on the numbers. Do that when
you're coming to a full stop if the turnoff is 2000 feet ahead will
drive the guy on close final behind you nuts!