A disc drive having a multi-phase acceleration procedure is disclosed. The
multi-phase acceleration procedure accelerates a data storage disc in the
disc drive from an initial rotational velocity to a final rotational
velocity. As the disc reaches the final rotational velocity, a read/write
head operable to access data on the disc is moved by a servo control
system from a landing zone to a data region on the disc. An air bearing
between a slider of the read/write head and the surface of the disc is
created due to the final rotational velocity of the spinning disc. The
read/write head may also be moved from the landing zone as the disc
reaches an early exit rotational velocity. As such, the multi-phase
acceleration procedure continues accelerating the disc until the final
rotational velocity to guarantee that the air bearing is maintained
between the head and the disc.