For future reference, here in the US the AIM allows an overflight of the
airport, parallel to and offset from the runway, and flown above pattern
altitude. The purpose being to check windsocks, segmented circles, etc.

You would then descend to pattern altitude and enter the pattern...

"Brian Burger" wrote in message
ia.tc.ca...
On Mon, 19 Jan 2004, Icebound wrote:

I still would like to know why Canada seems to have discontinued the 45
deg entry as of October 1996 and recommends against it in:

http://www.tc.gc.ca/civilaviation/an...new197.htm#MF2

We have discontinued teaching the 45, AFAIK. I learned about it in ground
school only as "something you'll need in the States"... (I got my PPL in
early 2002.)

grin That said, the three or four non-towered US airports I've been to
were utterly deserted when we were there (stat. holiday in Canada, normal
weekday in the USA) so we just went ahead and did our midfield entry to
the circuit anyway. Lazy, perhaps, but there were no local a/c around to
object.

The one busy non-twr'd American airport I flew into last summer, we did
the 45 - and it felt really odd. Because I hadn't flown over the runway
first, I was having trouble judging my height above the runway and how far
out I was on downwind.

I've got no idea why the difference in national practice; there are more
major differences I've noticed between Canadian & American practice, but
circuit entry is one that probably trips a lot of people from both sides
of the line.

Brian - PP-ASEL/Night -