The rest of the stuff has been hotly debated.. is that 3 miles from the
runway out on base.. or 1 mile out and 3 miles perpendicular to
centerline... so I'll let that go.

But if given a wide pattern at our local airport.. Report 3 Mile Left Base
for Rwy 12R, you had best be 3 miles from the airport headed for a long 3
mile final, and then you get cleared to land. Do not DO NOT cut the pattern
short.. the tower will be all over you for cutting through the traffic
pattern of those he has on left traffic to Rwy 12L.

This happens all the time.. you are approaching the airport from the
Northeast, there is "training or T&G traffic" on the shorter 12L and you are
a full stop.. so you get 12R but tower still needs you to get around and
clear of the 12L traffic pattern. Oh.. and many times.. the tower has split
the airfield.. one tower operator on 12L freq, and one or 12R freq.. and
they are standing side by side.

Yes,, it gets that busy at this Class D tower.

BT

"Tman" N/A wrote in message
...
I should know the answers to these, but have gotten some conflicting
opinions without much authoritative reference, so wouldn't mind some more
from this NG .

When approaching a towered airport (Class D), suppose I am told a few
miles out "report a 3-mile right base, runway 23"... as often happens.

* Just to confirm what I think is true about what the controller wants me
to do: Fly as directly as possible (in the absence of other guidance, not
crossing the field or other downwind / upwind legs, and practicing
see/avoid ) to a point that is 3 miles away from the extended centerline,
and will intersect the extended centerline on a base leg to leave a
comfortable, but not longish final approach path, say a 1 mile final.
E.g. 1 mile from the numbers on final, and 3 miles from the extended
centerline at a right angle, effectively a little over 3 miles straight
line from the numbers.

* Now when i am there, and report a 3-mile right base, if he tells me
"cleared to land, runway 23, you're #1", is that a hint or OK to dispense
with a squared off pattern, and make straight for the numbers, as
reasonably as I can manage in terms of flying the airplane safely?

* Do I really need to plan my descent so that I am TPA when reporting the
3-mile right base? I Really do not want to be. I'd rather be 2000 AGL,
which will give me a comfortable (but a little aggressive) descent with a
squarish pattern to the numbers, but also make much more feasible landing
in the airport environment, if not the numbers, should the engine stop.
At 1000 AGL 3 miles out, there is just no hope of making the airport --
I'd rather not be that low unless I really need to be. Is there any rule
that says I need to be at TPA when reporting to the controller points on
the pattern?

* Lastly, I've never flown into a Class C (or Class B) airport, but have a
fair amount of experience at Class D fields. Oh and I'm a new PPL with
circa 100 hrs. Is there anything I should be concerned about flying into
a Class C for the first time, or is my experience working at Class D and
with controllers going to serve me quite well? The two things I have
heard is a) don't expect to be reporting points on the pattern, you'll
probably get vectored to a final approach course (and that sounds easier),
and b) brush up on what you need to do for wake turbulence avoidance,
since that will be more probable....

Appreciate the thoughts and opinions of others with more experience!
T