At a towered airport you simply say, "XYZ Tower, N12345 is going around". If there's a reason that the tower should be aware of, you would say for example; "XYZ Tower, N12345 is going around, gear status uncertain".

If it's just because you're too high/fast, he'll already know that    and respond with instructions dependent on traffic. At a busy airport he'll likely say, "N12345 fly runway heading"... and then work you back into the pattern. If traffic allows, he'd just say, "N12345 make left traffic".

At an untowered airport, it's up to you. If you know there are other planes in or near the pattern you'd likely say, "XYZ traffic, N12345 is going around, will fly runway heading and re-enter the downwind". If you're sure there's nobody else in the pattern, you could just say, "XYZ traffic, N12345 is going around", and then announce positions accordingly.

In real life, start going around, then call it... before you turn crosswind, at the latest. That's assuming an uncontrolled field, and that you're goinjg to really go around into the pattern.

In the sim, I think what you want is to call upwind (?) or just wait and call it as you turn crosswind.

I never go around... in the sim.

beaky wrote on Jan 5^th, 2007 at 3:02pm:

LOL... you hit a soft spot... now I'll have to admit that after seeing that there was no option to "announce go around" in the ATC menu, I changed my mind again and dove nose down into the field with full flaps (at a speed which would probably have bent them if MS had implemented this)... it came out a good landing, but I would never have got away with it in real life 

Oo yeh, myself I have read horror stories about flaps damaged by this. I seem to recall a flight school aircraft damaged by a student with an early flaps extension... and nobody bothered to check, so they discovered it the hard way.

As for me, I was talking just about myself... eh eh... 

I  "think", in a 172 anyway, the flaps are more likely to suffer damage when they're extended at too high a speed. That's also when most of the flyabilty issues happen. Since you can safely extend the first notch at well above Va, I'm certain you can climb/accelerate to Va without consequence.

If you've taken off with anything more than that first notch of flaps, you'd KNOW it as you tried to get anywhere near Va ..


(were you practing short/soft field take-offs ?)

OH my  lol..

I woudn't admit this to just anyone, but here goes... 

When we were enroute to Oskosh, right after taking off and during the climb.. I was telling my friend (first student) that he could see how much faster this Cardinal is at altitude, all trimmed and happy..

Wellllllllllll  at 6500msl we couldn't get past 130kias and I was purplexed 

Yup..  10degrees of flaps (normal Cardinal take-off) were still deployed 

What a bunch of idiots!
Myself included... 

You think forgetting the flaps is funny, my first landing in FS9 in a 737-400, I forgot the landings gear D'OH.  I landed OK but the plane was shaking violently and the reverse thrusters weren't going out. Then I put it on spot view and saw what happened..OOPS!!!  Ah, I also forgot to cut the throttle (it was on full, who knows why) and I was wondering why I wasn't descending to I applied spoilers but I ended up running off the end of the runway anyways. I have NO IDEA how I did not see the throttle was on full. Maybe I was tired. If I become a real life pilot, I'm gonna need to drink some coffee before I go flyin eh?