Its' Bernoulli, not Marconi

It was a nice flight to Bay Bridge Airport on Maryland’s Eastern Shore (W29). Light westerly surface winds meant Runway 29. The pattern was empty. Runway 29 terminates about 350 feet from the Chesapeake Bay; any overrun, you get a saltwater bath.

My student, on his first approach, came in too high and started a go-around at 50 feet agl, two-thirds of the way down the runway. It went like this: bump the throttle up 200 rpm, pitch up, leave the flaps full down, and grab the microphone to call a go-around.

We never did find that microphone. After shoving the power to full, I knocked it out of his hand, pitched down slightly to avoid stalling, gained some airspeed, and ever so slowly retracted those flaps. By the time the little Cessna climbed above 100 feet agl, we were well over the water.

We had practiced proper go-around technique, of course, many times: pitch for climb attitude, add full power, carb heat off, trim, flaps up 10 degrees at a time, and when safely climbing away, pick up the microphone to call a go-around. Why he completely forgot all that, at a critical moment, was a mystery.

The real mystery to me, however, is why he felt compelled to grab the microphone when his airplane was but seconds away from disaster. Besides, there was no one to tell. There is a darn good reason why aviate is first and communicate is last in the hierarchy of all things aviation—it’s Bernoulli, not Marconi. For more information, please call the AOPA Pilot Information Center at 800-872-2672.

Craig Brown is a senior aviation technical specialist in the AOPA Pilot Information Center.

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