CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 8 Issue 2 - 6

I TELL MY SOLO STUDENTS TO DO FULL-STOP TAXI-BACKS. BEFORE THE
CHECKRIDE, I MAKE SURE THEY CAN SAFELY PERFORM A TOUCH AND GO...
PUT SEVERAL PILOTS IN A HANGAR AND RAISE
A FLYING TOPIC FOR DISCUSSION. The debate

will likely be lively and opinions will vary based
on pilot experience, proficiency levels, and plain
seat-of-the-pants flying knowledge.
In our previous CFI to CFI newsletter, we
asked for your feedback on the pros and cons
of performing touch and goes. Wow! We had a
great response and we appreciate your candid
opinions. While staff debate was captured in
The Ups & Downs of Doing Touch and Goes
sidebar to David Kenny's Safety Spotlight
Touch-and-Go...or No? (Volume 8, Issue 1) we
would now like to share what you had to say.

WHY, YES
* Johnny Moore, DPE and author of I Must Fly!
says 'Yes' to touch and goes. Moore writes,
"They should be treated just like airborne
missed approaches-as a training for the
correct responses-unless the POH prohibits
it. On a long runway, when you teach to retract
the flaps, take off carb heat, retrim, and then
reconfigure power, it is likely your student

will do just that in a bad bounce-or a sudden
emergency go-around near the ground-
without disastrous results." He elaborates,
"One instructor told me that if the student
gave the Cessna 150 full throttle with full
flaps on the ground he would be pulled off the
runway! What's wrong with this picture?"
* "Touch and goes are a good practice for
takeoffs, approaches, and landings" says Mike
Zeid. Trimming the aircraft is critical and
helpful (he flew with a Cessna 180 owner
who had problems landing because he never
trimmed it for landing). Mike suggests that
rusty pilots do some air work first, followed by a
short cross-country, and takeoffs and landings.
* From a military perspective: "As a former
active duty flight instructor for the Navy,
Marine Corps, and Coast Guard in T-28's, I
totally endorse doing touch and goes. I use
them in all my civilian training in both fixed
and retractable gear aircraft. I see restricting
touch and goes as a revenue and time building

ploy for young flight instructors and aircraft
renters."-Jerald Gartman, Col. USMC (Ret.)
* While Don Purney demonstrates touch and
goes to his students and has them perform
them during dual training, he does not
endorse them for solo students. "I tell my solo
students to do full-stop taxi-backs. Before the
checkride, I make sure they can safely perform
a touch and go," says Purney. Like other nonrequired maneuvers, he feels it is something
the student should know how to do safely.

NO WAY!
* Ask Neil Czarnecki, who has a strong opinion
on this. He thinks touch and goes should
not be taught or allowed to be performed.
According to Czarnecki, "They have only
one real purpose-to increase the number of
landings per hour that can be made at towered
airports. They have no real training value.
If the student makes a mistake, there is no
time to discuss it, because the next takeoff
and pattern work follows immediately. Few
instructors debrief students after the lesson,
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 8 Issue 2
