OK, just another dumb question.. When you talk about people descending on
you in the circuit, I take it you mean they are descending while on
downwind? That sounds extremely unwise!!!

Yes, that's what I understood the original poster to have meant.

Here's how we do it.... When we do an overhead join, we start 500 feet
above circuit altitude, and when ready, descend on the non-traffic side,
i.e. the upwind side

That sounds a whole lot safer.

What's really important is that everyone do it the same way at a given
airfield. The guy who asked why this was safer left me shaking my head
and wondering if it was a good idea to take up this hobby. It's all
very well to smirk and say the NORDO pilot (indeed, the pilot with
radio) should have his head on a swivel, but the fact is that student
pilots have a lot of cognitive dissonance cluttering up the old brain
pan. They do well to see the aircraft in front of them, never mind the
one charging in from the side or descending from overhead.


the other side of the circuit from downwind, then
when we're down to circuit altitude, we turn and fly the crosswind leg,
then, while looking for traffic we turn downwind and fly the rest
normally... I trust this doesn't come under the category of descending on
you?

No, it doesn't. Thanks for the clarification.

(All of this said, I ought to add that I have descended to the
downwind occasionally, on simulated engine-out landings. But never
when there was another aircraft in the pattern or moving anywhere on
the field.)

all the best -- Dan Ford
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