On the use of Touch and Goes vs Full Stop Taxi back

Touch and go practice can build repetition, but I do not recommend using it as the primary training method for landing instruction. In my view, full stop taxi backs usually produce better learning, better judgment, and better long-term skill retention.

Why I do not recommend touch and goes

1. There is no time for an adequate debrief or for the student to self-evaluate the maneuver using a student-centered or collaborative assessment approach.
2. If the student does not self-evaluate, the instructor cannot know whether the student understands what went wrong or how to correct it.
3. It is not realistic to how we normally fly and does not align well with scenario-based training.
4. After-landing and before-takeoff checklists are often skipped.
5. It can repeat potentially bad habits that later become very difficult to change.
6. The high workload encourages shortcuts and mistakes.
7. It teaches students that checklists are not important.
8. The transition to retractable gear aircraft increases the risk of raising the gear instead of the flaps, or making a gear-up landing.
9. Touch and goes, a form of block practice, may improve motor skills, but often at the expense of learning, understanding, and broader application of the maneuver.
10. It may fool the instructor into thinking the student has acquired the skill. If a student makes two or three good landings after doing fifteen in a row, that does not mean they will be able to repeat that performance tomorrow. Check again on another day.

Why full stop taxi backs often work better

My perspective is that students often learn to land proficiently in a shorter amount of time with full stop taxi backs. This method creates time to think, evaluate, reset, and use the appropriate checklists. It also better reflects the way most pilots actually operate aircraft outside of repetitive training patterns.

In a crisis or under stress, we do not rise to the occasion. We perform at the lowest level of our training. That is one reason I prefer a training method that reinforces deliberate procedures, sound judgment, and consistent checklist use.

Practical limitations

Full stop taxi backs are not always practical at a busy towered airport. In those cases, consider going to a smaller uncontrolled airport if one is available. Touch and goes still have a place, but they should not be used as the primary training maneuver.

Touch and goes have their place, but they should support training, not define it.