Airport Procedures
In the pattern you should not turn crosswind until within 300' of the pattern altitude and only then when beyond the departure end of the runway. On departing the pattern you should not make your departure turn until at pattern altitude and beyond the departure end of the runway. At tower airports any directive by ATC can supersede any of these standard procedures.
A major consideration when arriving at an airport is to make your arrival direction and altitude one that provides maximum separation. Avoid the departure end of the runway and the associated departure paths. For this reason I am a strong advocate that all 45 entries be pointed toward the approach end of the runway and not the departure. Low-wing aircraft should be at pattern altitude when entering on the 45 while high-wing can optionally be descending for improved visibility. Regardless of the area of instruction a pilot can always perform better when they understand why they are doing as they do. Safety is a continuous process that has a great deal of influence on the outcome of every flight.
Pattern Skills
How does a pilot become familiar on a first arrival at a strange airport? You look for references both inside and outside the aircraft. You use the heading indicator to determine the downwind heading, the base heading, the runway heading, and the upwind heading. You look out away from the airport and pick visible targets that can be referenced to the airport. With practice you can become skillful in this at any airport. Unless you practice it you will continue having pattern problems.
Additionally, you can learn to reference a particular row of rivets on the wing or a strut point with the centerline of the runway while in level flight. Using the centerline is a way to overcome the optical effects of different sized and proportioned runways.
If the downwind is flown appropriately to the wind conditions there will variations of distance from the airport laterally. A crosswind that is blowing you into the runway will require a wider pattern track than will the wind that is blowing you away. The strong wind right down the runway will require a tighter, closer base turn than will a calm wind condition. The 'calm' wind condition will usually consist of several variable winds that change both direction and velocity throughout the pattern, approach and flare. To the extent that winds are abnormal in direction and strength the pilot must make compensation adjustments to the pattern flight path.
An essential to flying a landing pattern is climbing or descending to an altitude and accelerating to cruise at that altitude. Failure to master the visual clues for level flight, the sounds of specific airspeeds, and the trim position in the C-150 will cause transition problems with higher performance aircraft. The standardized airport pattern cannot be flown correctly unless the pattern altitude is constant. You must be able to level off at altitude every time with a minimum waste of motion or time. While doing this relatively simple but hard to master procedure you must correct for winds so as to maintain a pattern suitable for landing and traffic avoidance. A traffic pattern is the four basic flight skills being put to use.
Airport Arrivals
One of the most critical phases of all flying is airport arrival. The fact that radar is becoming increasingly available makes many arrivals more controlled and seemingly easier. Just be aware that proper radio procedures are critical in the radar environment. The existence of radar makes non-radar arrivals less frequent and familiar. Regardless, always get the ATIS, communicate from known (pre planned) check point 10 to 20 miles out. If you are unfamiliar, so advise ATC. Doing so is a sign of competency. Only incompetents try to fake it. Request to over fly above pattern altitude if you are at all uncertain as to how make your entry. Perhaps the most dangerous of all flight situations is to make an airport arrival incorrectly. If you are at all uncertain, go to "slow flight" and GET HELP from ATC. The willingness and readiness to admit the need for help and to ask for it is the ultimate sign of flying maturity. Only the incompetent pilot thinks he is supposed to know everything and is consequently reluctant to ask for help.
To a single runway there are seven standard arrivals. There are two non-standard arrivals that are relatively hazardous. If no special considerations interfere any of the seven may be requested. If the pattern direction is known a 45-degree entry into the pattern need not be requested. However, the tower must be advised that you will report right or left downwind. As a standard procedure, except for the downwind entries, all other arrivals require a two-mile report unless otherwise advised. The purpose of the report is to allow the tower time to locate you and plan a safe sequence for your arrival.
1. Straight in
2. Right base
3. Right downwind
4. Right standard (45)
5. Left base
6. Left downwind
7. Left standard (45)
8. Direct entry to left downwind (not recommended)
9. Direct entry to right downwind (not recommended)
All of these can be modified by pilot request or ATC suggestion. A modified entry may be at other than a precise number of degrees relative to the runway. I recently heard an aircraft over the airport request and be approved for an overhead arrival. Ask and you may receive.
A typical call might be..."Podunk tower Cessna 1234X the dump at 2100 with Alpha request right base 32 will report two-mile base" Again, no punctuation should be used when writing or talking airplane.
The standard 45 entry has some dimensions that can be used to standardize a landing approach. The ideal towered runway is about 5000', close to a mile. Entering on a 45 and aiming at the runway threshold and turning downwind at mid field would place the aircraft a half-mile from the runway and a half-mile from abeam the numbers. Flying from the numbers to the 'key position would be another half-mile. Base would be a half-mile as would the final. This gives the aircraft a two-mile landing procedure with the first half-mile for pre-landing procedures, the downwind extension for slowing, trimming and configuring the aircraft, the base leg for descent and setting the length of the final approach.
The two-mile reports for the straight in and base arrivals can be segmented much as the standard arrival and used to organize your landing procedures.
Two-mile Reports
The two-mile report should be 'measured' from the runway threshold. the 'measuring can be done for the straight-in by using a known site directly in line with the runway or by using a call that says abeam (beside) a known site. The last recourse is to visualize the runway flipped toward you two times. If you use GPS, you should know the point on the airport used as its position and adjust your GPS reading accordingly.
The two-mile base reports can be done much the same as the straight in except for the use of the runway flips. Your entry line should be aimed at a point anywhere from a quarter to a half-mile before the threshold.
There is an instance where the 45 entry and two-mile reports can and do present pilots with illusions that can affect their airport arrivals and landings. A pilot using the 45 entry at a runway of 3000' or less should plan to turn downwind abeam the departure end. Flying to midfield before turning will reduce all the flight segments to 1/4 mile. The best way to see this effect is to compare the pattern of a 5" drawing and a 3 inch drawing of a 45 entry. The best advice I have for flying a pattern at a small or unfamiliar small airport is to keep the downwind twice as far as you think you should and you will be about right.
Where parallel runways exist, any requested departure may be restricted by ATC until they authorize a turn for reasons of conflicting traffic. At any airport, a particular departure may by limited because of terrain, noise abatements, or local considerations where turns are only allowed after reaching a particular point or altitude. Every airport will usually have a place where the preferred or prohibited flight procedures are explained and/or illustrated.
Intersecting runways make possible restricted clearances to land. The restriction most often requires the pilot to land and hold short of the intersecting runway. A pilot should not accept such a clearance unless able to comply.
I have read that worldwide the average wind has a velocity of about twelve knots. At each end of this reference are wind extremes that can and do cause pilots pattern and landing difficulties. One extreme the strong winds are expected while the other extreme, the so-called calm wind, has unexpected capabilities. A student should be exposed early to runways of varied widths and lengths in both left and right patterns Each of these extremes offer specific problems that can be solved only by a varied exposure. Once exposed a pilot will better avoid problems by using the skills of anticipation he has acquired.
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