"Mxsmanic" wrote in message
...

If I hear "make right downwind," I take this to mean (based on what
I've read) that I should join the downwind leg at some point at a
45-degree angle, and that the pattern is one in which all turns are
right turns (and thus is to the right of the runway, as seen by
someone coming straight in).

Right hand pattern = all turns are made to the right from the pilot's
perspective... take the "as seen by someone coming straight in" part out...
Right hand pattern is take off, followed by a right turn to crosswind,
follwed shortly by a right turn to downwind, followed by a right turn to
base, follwed by a right turn to final.

Standard pattern entry is a 45 to the downwind... However, when going into
places like Boeing Field, it depends on where you are coming from... i.e.
if you are arriving at Boeing Field from the south and they are landing to
the south, the real life controller will just have do a "zero degree entry"
to the downwind... if you are approaching from the NE (downtown Bellevue)
and they are landing to the south they will usually tell you "report Seward
Park" and at Seward park tell you "Cleared to land 13L" (short runway) and
you have to make about 135 degree right hand turn to enter the downwind.
The will occaisonally tell you "enter base for 13L" when coming from
Bellevue, but have gotten the "Seward Park" thing much more frequently. And
if you are approaching Boeing from the West, it is about a 90 degree entry
to the downwind and "close in" (over the river)

And then of course Flight Sim doesn't cover local VFR procedures like
"Mercer Departure" or "Vashon Departure", but that is kind of expected since
there are so many airports in the product and many of them are not official
FAA procedures i.e. try finding an FAA definition for "Vashon Departure" or
"Mercer Departure", but in real life if you ask for a "Vashon Departure" the
controller will clear you for and know exactly what you are talking about.

Too bad there isn't a Virtual FAA in MSFS that you put on those Virtual
Pilot's butts....

They all sound and behave the same. As it is, there's hardly every
anyone in the pattern, except maybe for one other aircraft, so one
can't easily simulate flying a busy pattern. Then again, given my
current lack of skill in flying patterns, there might be bodies and
aircraft chunks flying everywhere if I had to negotiate a pattern with
other aircraft in it.

Basic point of my comment was that the flight sim doesn't necessarily
represent real life accurately in this aspect and that it would be a "fun
feature" to have the FAA come down on the AI Pilots in flight sim, and that
it is not a really good tool if you are trying to familiarize yourself with
how things work at the real airport.