In article , Arketip wrote:

FOR ME, by the time I am abeam the numbers, unless I am asked to keep my
speed up, I am at my final approach speed of 70 knots in my Sundowner.

And everybody behind has to slow down too or extend downwind if flying a
faster aircraft.

Flying the circuit (pattern) is not an exercise in doing it in a rigidly
set way every time. You have to have situational awareness and choose
the appropriate action.

Having been in a Bonanza following a Cub, and been in a Cessna 140 being
followed by a Bonanza in the past, so long as everyone is looking and
listening it's not rocket science. If I'm being followed by faster
traffic, and I'm in a slow plane, I will make a very tight pattern so
that the following faster traffic doesn't get cramped behind me. If I'm
in a fast plane following a slow one, I'll put some flaps out and slow
down. If someone's flying a wide pattern and I'm behind, I'll slow down
so I don't have to also fly a massive pattern, however, if there's a
LearJet right behind me, I may exit the pattern to allow the jet to go
ahead and rejoin behind it.

It's always a matter of judgement what the best course of action is - no
one action is necessarily always correct.

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"