A common issue I've noticed when flying with other pilots is the tendency to stay behind the airplane. It usually starts with a small error, like being a little high on base or carrying an extra ten knots on final. Instead of identifying the problem immediately or choosing to abandon the approach, the pilot spends the rest of the time reacting to the airplane rather than leading it.
We can solve this by borrowing a core lesson from instrument training. In the IFR world, and to usually a lesser extent, private pilot training, we are taught the concept of a stabilized approach: the airplane must be configured, on speed, and on a steady descent path by a specific altitude. If those criteria aren't met, the approach is aborted and a go-around or missed approach procedure is performed.
While these rules are generally taught mainly to instrument students, the principle is highly applicable to everyday GA flying. Whether you are doing pattern work or shooting a visual approach, having a mental gate prevents you from trying to fix a bad approach all the way to the pavement.
The 500 Foot Rule
Even though a light piston aircraft moves at a much slower pace than a jet flying the ILS, our decision-making window in the traffic pattern is condensed. For most GA visual approaches, 500 feet above the ground is the ideal time to verify you are actually in control of the situation.
By the time you are 500 feet AGL or established on final, whichever is lower, three things should be true:
Your airspeed is pegged at your target approach speed, not ten knots over.
Your landing configuration is set and the airplane is in trim.
Your descent rate is stable, and not exceeding 1,000 fpm.
If you are still wrestling with the airplane, hunting for your airspeed, or are requiring a vertical speed consistently in excess of 1,000 fpm at this altitude, you are already behind the airplane. The mental workload only increases as you get closer to the ground. If the setup is messy at 500 feet or on final, the landing likely will be too.
The view from a Piper Arrow on final to land
The Short Final Reset
If the approach looks good at 500 feet, you have one last chance to verify the landing is actually going to work. As you cross the runway fence at roughly 50 feet, ask yourself if the airplane is in a position to touch down within the first third of the runway at the proper speed.
If you are floating halfway down the strip, approaching stall speed after flaring 40 feet too high, or still fighting to get the speed off as you cross the threshold, the approach has fallen apart. This is where "get-there-itis" usually wins because we feel like we are too close to the ground to quit. It is an important and active mental separation between the safety of being on the ground, and the impending damaged strut or wrinkled firewall from impacting too fast after stalling too high or forcing the nose down with too much speed. Don’t let your brain subconsciously confuse the two.
Making the decision to go around at 50 feet isn't a failure of skill. It is a sign that you are still the one in command of the flight, making a proactive choice rather than just waiting to see how a bad setup ends.
A Final Note
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