General aviation pilot reported a near miss with another aircraft on takeoff roll while lined up on final approach. ATC directed the general aviation pilot to go around and provided assigned headings in the traffic pattern.
Synopsis
General aviation pilot reported a near miss with another aircraft on takeoff roll while lined up on final approach. ATC directed the general aviation pilot to go around and provided assigned headings in the traffic pattern.
Narrative
I had been cleared to land on rwy 33 by ATC. When I was on very short final (0.4 nm from the runway threshold); ATC cleared another aircraft waiting at the hold short line to make an 'expedited' departure ahead of my landing. That aircraft entered the runway ahead of me and proceeded to make a normal paced departure. I expected them to takeoff and climb and I would land shortly behind them; close but doable. The other aircraft took longer than expected to takeoff and ATC directed me to go around; left closed traffic; they would call my turns. I proceeded to perform a go-around; sidestepping to the left because I couldn't see the other aircraft with the nose of my airplane in a climb. Tower had the other aircraft turn right and called my turns to the left. ATC gave me an extended upwind and downwind legs and because of their delayed calls I entered the Class C airspace twice; clipping the corners to the west and south of Bowman while returning to rwy 33.Throughout this sequence; I am most bothered by ATC clearing an aircraft for an expedited departure when I was within a half mile of touching down. This caused me to have to use evasive go-around maneuvers while not being able to adequately see the aircraft just ahead of me. This is a safety hazard that I have seen on several occasions at Bowman. I feel like this type of situation should be addressed with Bowman's ATC because there are many students flying at Bowman and a student could easily use incorrect evasive actions and end up stalling or crashing. Bowman ATC needs to do better in these busy situations.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.