Jose wrote:
I thought it was obvious I meant when the other traffic was following
whatever the procedure is, but maybe not.

It was not obvious. You stated it as a universal. It doesn't matter
however.

I also thought it was obvious I meant when not following whatever
procedure you do something that surprises the other traffic, but, again,
maybe not.

Flying inherently includes surprises. Some are dangerous, some are not.
You stated as a categorical imperative that all traffic MUST do the
same thing or insane danger will result. I disagree. There are many
things that are not part of "what everyone is doing" that are not going
to cause insand danger, or even any significant danger.

I never meant to imply anything that dramatic, but in any case, don't
you think it prudent to minimize the surprises in an activity such
as aviation especially when you have no way to know the skill level of
the other participants?

You never know if the other guy has 20,000 hours with nerves of steel
or a student 5 minutes into his first solo and on the verge of wetting
his pants.

Personally, I always fly under the assumption the other guy is a 5
minute student unless he has multiple engines or a turbin.

BTW, you do realize, that all else, such as terrain, obstructions,
other runways, etc., being equal, the choice of left or right traffic
at an airport is usually based on minimizing noise to "sensitive" areas
and those are mandatory?

Actually, that just boils down to "noise is a consideration". Things
are rarely equal. And the mandatory left/right pattern rules are in the
AF/D and FAA approved. You were talking about homegrown procedures that
are not necessarily FAA approved, not mandatory, and not necessarily
well publicized.

I think "home grown" is a sticking point with some people, though most
specific details of an airports operation are in fact "home grown",
including the mandatory, FAA approved, ones.

You made a big deal out of something small. I don't think it's a big
deal, but it's a big deal to try to make it a big deal.

I only think it is a big deal when some inconsiderate yahoo comes
charging in out of nowhere from a direction I don't expect anyone
to be coming from like the genius this morning who decided to do a
go around and turn cross wind mid field in front of downwind traffic
which included me. I guess he didn't want to spend the gas money to go
where everyone else was turning crosswind.

--
Jim Pennino

Remove .spam.sux to reply.