"Dave" wrote in message
...

here in the UK the normal practice is to join the airfield overhead,
descend
on the dead side and join the pattern via a cross wind leg over the runway
in use.

I was just wondering something about that practice: it means basically that
the (little, noisy) airplanes are flying parallel to both sides of the
runway, although admittedly those on the dead side (flying upwind, right?)
are a little higher than those on downwind.

Around here I've noticed a lot of airfields have one-sided patterns,
presumably because there is something more noise-sensitive on the other
side. Bremerton recently converted from left pattern to east pattern,
although I don't know whether the reason was actually to keep the west side
quieter or because of some hazard. With planes descending on the dead side,
you don't have the option of keeping one side quiet all the time, right?

-- David Brooks