Touch-and-Go Landings: The Complete Beginner’s Guide

The main wheels touch the numbers, and the runway markings start blurring beneath you. In a matter of seconds, you’re flying again. 

That’s a touch-and-go, and it’s one of the most efficient training tools in the cockpit.

CFIs love them. For good reason, too. You can log six to eight landings in under an hour with immediate feedback on every approach.

There are also, of course, some real risks. And there are days and runways where you shouldn’t attempt one at all. 

Now, let’s talk about the optimal flow for your touch-and-go, and everything else you can do to make every lap count.

Key Takeaways

The FAA defines a touch-and-go as landing and departing without stopping or exiting the runway.

Stay vigilant with your aiming point, abort point, and go-around procedure.

Always calculate the combined landing roll and takeoff distance, then add a 20 percent buffer.

Always practice short-field and soft-field landings to a full stop, not touch-and-gos.

What Is a Touch and Go?

The FAA’s Pilot/Controller Glossary defines a touch-and-go as: 

“An operation by an aircraft that lands and departs on a runway without stopping or exiting the runway.” 

You touch down, reconfigure while rolling, and take off again without ever leaving the runway.

Not to be confused with a stop-and-go, which means something else entirely. With it, you bring the aircraft to a full standstill before the next takeoff run.

And when you fly down toward the runway without touching down at all, you’re doing a low approach. 

When NOT to Use Them

Contaminated surfaces reduce braking effectiveness. In that sense, another takeoff roll will come at an enormous risk.

Remember that normal approach and landing procedures assume the landing surface is firm and of ample length. Anything less deserves a full stop first. 

High-density altitude reduces your performance margins. The wiser call will be to stop and reassess. 

And if you’re working on short-field or soft-field technique, a touch-and-go misses the point since both maneuvers need a complete rollout.

Anatomy of a Safe Touch and Go

Downwind is where your workload is lowest, and that’s exactly why it’s the right time to run a quick mental brief before things speed up.

Pre-Pattern Brief (Do This on Downwind)

Before you turn base, go through this checklist verbally: 

Aim point on the runway.

Go-around altitude if the approach deteriorates.

Abort point on the landing roll.

Pick and commit to a specific landmark or a runway marker. If the aircraft isn’t ready to fly by that point, you’re stopping.

The Stabilized Approach

You’ve heard that a good landing depends on a stabilized approach. But what does that even mean? 

Here’s how the Airplane Flying Handbook defines it: 

“A stabilized approach is one in which the pilot establishes and maintains a constant-angle glide path towards a predetermined point on the landing runway. It is based on the pilot’s judgment of certain visual clues and depends on maintaining a constant final descent airspeed and configuration.”

For that, the 3-to-1 rule will come in handy. For every 3 nautical miles you fly over the ground, the aircraft should descend 1,000 feet. Your path should simulate a standard 3-degree glideslope.

Okay, but how can you be sure that you’re actually heading towards that “predetermined point,” or your aiming point?  

When you’re flying toward your touchdown spot, that point should stay perfectly still in your windscreen. It won’t creep down under your nose, and it won’t slide forward away from you either. 

Objects before the aiming point will appear to slide down under your nose, while objects past it seem to rise up and move away.

Now, let’s talk numbers. For a typical piston aircraft, the approach is stabilized when airspeed is within plus 10 or minus 5 knots of the recommended landing speed. 

The descent rate should generally be between 500 and 1,000 feet per minute, and the aircraft is in the correct landing configuration with flaps as required.

If your approach isn’t stabilized by 300 feet AGL, go around immediately. The touch-and-go can wait.

Landing-to-Takeoff Transition Flow

Watch out for directional control difficulties immediately upon and after touchdown. That’s due to the ground friction on the wheels. The rudder serves the same purpose on the ground as it does in the air. 

As speed decreases and the nose wheel is lowered to the ground, the steerable nose should provide more positive directional control.

In other words, keep your eyes outside and your feet active.

Then, you’ll move through a flow that mirrors the go-around sequence: power, then attitude, then configuration. 

The same priority order applies here on the runway.

Power

Power comes first. You need to (smoothly and without hesitation) apply full or maximum allowable takeoff power. 

Some engines will falter if you slam the throttle forward too abruptly. Make it a firm, deliberate movement rather than a jab.

Pitch

What comes after power? Pitch management, but only once you’ve confirmed your power is set and you’re tracking straight. 

After your main wheels first touch down, you’ll hold back-elevator pressure to maintain a positive angle of attack. This gives you aerodynamic braking and keeps the nosewheel off the ground as you decelerate. 

The trick here is holding it light, not yanking it back hard.

Configuration

Once you’ve arrested the descent and established a climb, you need to deal with your flaps. The standard procedure is to retract them partially or move them to the takeoff position as your manufacturer recommends.

How quickly should you retract them? That depends on your altitude and airspeed, but the proper technique is to bring them up in small increments. 

It gives your airplane time to accelerate as you’re raising them. Each increment of flap retraction will reduce drag, which lets you build airspeed before you retract the next stage. 

Everything else, like landing gear retraction, should come after. Set those items per your POH when you’ve got the situation under control.

Communication & Pattern Etiquette

Controlled Fields

When you’re at a towered airport, you have a few different ways to tell the controller what you intend to do on the runway. 

If you want a touch-and-go specifically, you request exactly that. If you want a stop-and-go, you say so.

But there’s also a third option: the “Cleared for the Option” procedure. 

With it, ATC authorizes you to touch-and-go, fly a low approach, execute a missed approach, stop-and-go, or make a full stop landing, all at your own discretion. 

In other words, requesting “the option” gives you the most flexibility.

A typical exchange for the option might sound like this:

Pilot: “Tower, Cessna 82K, midfield left downwind runway 27, request the option.”

Tower: “Cessna 82K, cleared for the option, runway 27.”

You should also inform ATC of any delay on the runway if you’re making a stop-and-go or full stop landing. 

And if you decide to make a full stop, you owe the tower a heads-up promptly. Remember that they’re sequencing traffic and anticipating you to be back in the pattern.

Non-Towered Fields

Without a tower, you are your own air traffic control. 

The standard practice is simple. Broadcast your callsign, position, and intentions on the CTAF at each leg of the pattern. 

What does that actually sound like? Here’s an example:

Pilot: “Frederick Traffic, Cessna 82K, left downwind, runway 19, touch-and-go, Frederick.”

You repeat similar calls turning base, turning final, and when you’re clear of the runway. If the pattern gets busy, announce “full stop after this one” to help other pilots sequence themselves.

Performance, Runway, and Environmental Factors

Calculating Needed Runway

Remember that touch-and-go operations use the runway in two bursts, not just one. 

A conservative estimate would be to add your total landing distance over a 50-foot obstacle and your total takeoff distance over a 50-foot obstacle. Then, add a safety buffer.

There’s no FAA-mandated safety buffer for Part 91 touch-and-go operations in a piston aircraft. That said, a 20 percent buffer on top of the combined distance is a reasonable personal minimum. Some flight instructors even recommend as much as 50 percent.

How do you get those numbers? You’ll have to calculate them yourself. 

For example, let’s say you calculated a landing distance of 1,250 feet to clear a 50-foot obstacle, and a take-off distance of 1,525 feet to clear a 50-foot obstacle.

Add the landing ground roll to that takeoff distance, apply your buffer, and compare the result to the available runway.

Density Altitude & Weight Penalties

But don’t forget to account for weight, density altitude, and wind. Take a 2,600-pound Archer on a 22°C day. The pressure altitude is 2,000 feet, and you’ve got a headwind component of 6 knots.

This results in a 1,025-foot landing roll. You’ll need 1,450 feet to clear a 50-ft obstacle. 

But remember, landing is only half the battle. You’re also going to take off.

Based on the chart, you’ll need a 700-foot ground roll takeoff distance and a total distance of 1,400 feet to clear a 50-foot obstacle. 

Add those together: 2,850 feet of combined runway needed before any safety buffer. Apply 20 percent, and you need about 3,420 feet of usable runway. 

If you’re on a 3,000-foot strip, the math has already made your decision for you. Do a full stop and taxi back.

Weather and Surface Condition Traps

Things get even more complicated once you factor in a wet or contaminated runway. Water on the runway cuts the friction between your tires and the ground. Your braking effectiveness takes a hit.

And when dynamic hydroplaning occurs, your tires start riding on a thin sheet of water rather than making contact with the runway surface itself. 

What does that mean for your control? Your braking and directional control become almost nonexistent.

The problem is that once hydroplaning begins, it can persist well below the speed at which it started. You might start hydroplaning at 60 knots, but you could still be sliding on that water film at 40 knots. 

This makes wet runway landings particularly treacherous. You can’t count on a reliable abort point. 

The distances and speeds you calculated during your preflight planning might not hold up once you’re actually on that slick surface.

What’s our advice? When the runway is wet or contaminated, save the touch-and-go lesson for another day.

Common Errors and How to Fix Them

Raising Flaps Before Liftoff Speed

In the rush to reconfigure during the go portion, it’s easy to grab the flap lever too soon. What happens next? A sudden and complete retraction of the flaps could cause a loss of lift. 

If the nose-wheel drops back onto the runway at speed, a nose-wheel collapse becomes a real possibility. 

You should have a verbal checkpoint before you touch the flap lever. Power set, airspeed alive, then flaps. Saying it aloud costs nothing. A nose-wheel overhaul costs a great deal.

Re-trimming Too Late or Too Much

Landing trim and takeoff trim are different animals. On approach, your trim should be set for low airspeed (in other words, “trimmed up”). 

But don’t forget that the moment you add power, that nose will want to pitch up sharply while the airplane yaws left from torque and P-factor. 

If the nose rises too early at low altitude, you could get into an unrecoverable stall. 

That’s why you should anticipate significant forward elevator pressure. That’ll hold the nose level or in a safe climb attitude. 

At the same time, you’re applying the right rudder to counteract that left yaw.

At the “go” portion, you’re not making fine adjustments just yet. 

After you’ve established the appropriate airspeed and pitch attitude for the climb, roughly trim the airplane to relieve those adverse control pressures you’re fighting. 

More exact trim adjustments can wait once flight conditions have stabilized, and you’re not juggling a dozen tasks at once.

Rushing the Roll → Runway Excursion

Speed on the ground erodes your decision time and your stopping distance all at once. If you abandon your vigilance and lose positive control after getting the airplane on the ground, the consequence can be disastrous. 

If you picked an abort point on downwind as recommended in the pre-pattern brief section, use it. When your abort point passes, and the aircraft isn’t ready to fly, the answer is brakes. 

It’s far better than a late power application that sends you off the far end.

Forgetting Carb Heat / Fuel Pump / Gear

Complex aircraft add another layer of risk to an already demanding maneuver. You’re managing more systems during a phase of flight that’s already pushing your workload to the limit.

Once you’ve established full power and confirmed your airplane is climbing safely, you need to work through your configuration changes. 

Carb heat comes off to give you maximum power output. Then you address the gear. 

Once you’ve done your rough trim and you’re certain you’ll stay airborne, only then should you retract the landing gear.

Building Proficiency

Crawl-Walk-Run Approach

Want to really master the touch-and-go? Take it part-by-part.

First, practice landings to a full stop until your approaches and touchdowns are consistent. Then, practice the go-around sequence from altitude. Workload is low, and consequences are forgiving. 

Only once both feel mechanical do you combine them on the runway. 

If you rush to lap the pattern before your transitions are solid, you might just worsen your errors instead of fixing them. 

Then, slowly add in different complexities. First, calm days with light winds, then crosswinds, then busier patterns.

Mixing Full-Stop Landings

Don’t let every session become a continuous loop of touch-and-goes. The occasional taxi back gives you something a circuit can’t: time. 

Time to run the after-landing checklist properly, time to let the brakes cool between heavy uses, and time to mentally reset before the next approach. 

You’ll get to sharpen your aircraft control and checklist use. You’ll also have time to debrief with your instructor before you head back in the air.

Using Flight Simulators Effectively

Simulators earn their keep most when you use them for scenarios that would be risky or impractical to set up in the actual aircraft.

An engine failure during the takeoff roll after a touch-and-go, for example, tests your abort decision and rollout control.

A sudden crosswind gust to 20 knots at 50 feet AGL tests your go-around commitment without risk.

Does your flow truly feel like second nature, or does it still need your conscious attention? To find out, your instructor can simulate distractions during the flap transition. It can be an unexpected question about fuel or a simulated radio call. It can reveal whether your flow is truly automatic or still requires conscious attention.

Special Scenarios

Short-Field & Soft-Field Techniques with Touch-and-Go?

The short answer? No.

Think about the demands of a short-field landing. You’ll need precise, positive control of the rate of descent and airspeed. You should be able to stop the airplane in the shortest possible distance. 

Upon touchdown, you’ll need to apply maximum braking to minimize the after-landing roll. You should hold the wheel or stick full back while smoothly applying brakes. That’s the whole point of the maneuver. 

Adding power for a touch-and-go directly contradicts it. You’ve practiced the approach correctly and then thrown away the most important part, the actual stopping.

On a soft-field landing, keep the flaps extended during rollout. The extra lift keeps weight off the nose gear and prevents it from digging into soft ground. That’s the whole point of the technique. 

When runway margin is tight, divided attention is the last thing you want. Practice short-field landings to a full stop, every time. If you want to practice the short-field takeoff on the same runway, great, but treat it as a separate event.

Non-Towered Airport

Nobody is sequencing you (or anyone else, for that matter) in a non-towered airport. That responsibility falls entirely on the pilots sharing the pattern. 

The importance of air-to-air communications cannot be overstated, and the failure to follow proper communication protocol has led to far too many near-midair collisions. 

All traffic within a 10-mile radius of a non-towered airport should monitor and communicate on the designated CTAF. Stay vigilant, and comply with the requirement to see and avoid other aircraft.

You’re cycling through the pattern faster than most traffic, which makes your position harder for other pilots to track and predict. 

Announce every leg. State your call sign, position, runway, and intentions, then listen between transmissions. Radio calls tell you where aircraft say they are. Your eyes tell you where they actually are. 

Use both your eyes and ears for situational awareness. And don’t be too complacent if the frequency goes quiet. Instead, assume that there’s always traffic lurking around the corner.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are touch-and-gos dangerous?

Not inherently, but they condense plenty of decisions into a very tight time frame. 

A similar maneuver, the go-around maneuver, isn’t inherently dangerous in itself. It only becomes dangerous when you delay your inputs, and you don’t execute them properly. 

The same principle applies to touch-and-go. 

If you make a stabilized approach and you have a comprehensive transition flow, a safe touch-and-go should be completely possible. 

Can I log a landing?

Yes, for daytime currency, and your airplane isn’t a tailwheel. 

Under 14 CFR 61.57(a)(1), the three takeoffs and three landings required within the preceding 90 days. The only full stop requirement applies to tailwheel airplanes. 

Night currency is different. For night operations, 14 CFR 61.57(b)(1) requires that the three takeoffs and three landings within the preceding 90 days should come to a full stop. 

You must perform them during the period beginning one hour after sunset and ending one hour before sunrise to count toward your night currency.

What’s the difference between a touch-and-go and a go-around?

The touchdown. 

In a go-around, you decide to abandon the approach or landing when it’s dangerous to keep going. Instead, you climb away without completing the landing on purpose. 

A touch-and-go, on the other hand, is an intentional maneuver. You touch down, reconfigure, then take off again from the same runway without stopping. 

Conclusion

Touch-and-go landings are where you really sharpen those stick-and-rudder skills. Every lap around the pattern is a chance to sharpen your approach.

Are they challenging? Absolutely. But that’s the point. 

Start simple. Then, mix in full stops, and build your proficiency over time. That’s where a competent pilot beats a current one. 

Get out there and fly the way we’ve walked you through it. You’ve got this.

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