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Look up touch-and-go landing in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

In aviation, a touch-and-go landing or circuit is a maneuver that is common when learning to fly a fixed-wing aircraft. It involves landing on a runway and taking off again without coming to a full stop. Usually the pilot then circles the airport in a defined pattern known as a circuit and repeats the maneuver. This allows many landings to be practiced in a short time.^[1]

It can also describe a maneuver used to test questionable landing surfaces.

In British parlance this maneuver is called "circuits and bumps".

If the pilot brings the aircraft to a full stop before taking off again then it is known as a "stop-and-go".

[edit] Standard procedure

The standard circuit begins with a roll down the runway until the aircraft rotates, a climb out to TPA (traffic pattern altitude), a right or left climbing turn (depending on making either right hand or left hand circuits) to 1,000' AGL perpendicular to the runway, followed by another right or left turn for a downwind leg parallel to the runway. During the downwind leg the pilot completes pre-landing checks and contacts the control tower advising a full stop landing or a touch-and-go. After seeing the threshold of the runway at 45 degrees behind him/her, the pilot makes another left or right turn descending to 500 feet AGL. The pilot then turns on the last leg, the final approach where clearance to land or for a touch-and-go is expected.

In an uncontrolled airport, the pilot announces position and intent over a UNICOM radio frequency to coordinate the flow of local air traffic between the pilots.

[edit] References