Steven P. McNicoll wrote:
"Roy Smith" wrote in message
...

My guess would be the traffic pattern. People were landing airplanes
long before they were holding them.


Yes, but not necessarily from a landing pattern as we know it today.
The Air Commerce Regulations of 1928 say nothing about any kind of
landing pattern.

Maybe that's because many "fields" were used to land airships. They were
circular so wind direction didn't matter. It's hard to define a "pattern"
for a circular field. Lakehurst NJ is still circular and is easily seen
from airliners heading to the JFK VOR from the south.