Question: "Overhead Entry to Downwind?"

Here at Spruce Creek, we do initial at or below pattern altitude and
perform either a level turn break or a "popup" break, to shed speed,
followed by a tight pattern.

Again, if it's local custom, most anything would suffice. Pity there
wasn't a place in the AOPA airport handbook to indicate these local
quirks.

My home field has a nuclear plant a few miles to the south, and the
local rule since 9/11 is never to point your plane in its direction.
The ocean is a couple miles east, so most traffic is coming from the
west.

When we must land to the north, therefore, most of us get on the 45
from the west, then cross over at mid-field or at the south end,
making a left turn onto downwind (no doubt to the joy of those who
believe that right turns onto downwind are "illegal").

I suppose every airfield has these local quirks. We have a "calm wind
runway" also, and so do other fields I've landed at. One even uses the
favored runway up to a 5 knot tailwind.


all the best -- Dan Ford
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see the Warbird's Forum at www.warbirdforum.com
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Here at Spruce Creek, we do initial at or below pattern altitude and
perform either a level turn break or a "popup" break, to shed speed,
followed by a tight pattern.

You know, it would help me (and perhaps others) if somebody explained
what a "break" was. I've never done formation flying, nor do I intend
to, but if it's part of your landing drill, perhaps I should know
about it.

all the best -- Dan Ford
email:

see the Warbird's Forum at www.warbirdforum.com
and the Piper Cub Forum at www.pipercubforum.com

"I can make a very good case that the classic 45-degree
entry is itself a violation of the FARs,..."

I understand that to mean "ridiculous as it seems, I can ..."

We know someone can make a case for it. People do it all the time on
this newsgroup. That doesn't make it a good case, especially when the
organization that wrote the FARs itself recommends the 45 entry.

all the best -- Dan Ford
email:

see the Warbird's Forum at www.warbirdforum.com
and the Piper Cub Forum at www.pipercubforum.com

As the FAA says the AIM presents their recommended practices and methods,
and the AIM recommendation contains 45 degree pattern entries, it would
appear that the FAA wants 45 degree entries to be used.

Thank you, Bill! A nice statement of the obvious.

Put it in the FAQ!


all the best -- Dan Ford
email:

see the Warbird's Forum at www.warbirdforum.com
and the Piper Cub Forum at www.pipercubforum.com

To my knowledge, no pilot has ever been violated for a 45
entry,

Nor any flight instructor for telling his students to do it that way,
which includes all the flight instructors who were brave enough to
take me up.

all the best -- Dan Ford
email:

see the Warbird's Forum at www.warbirdforum.com
and the Piper Cub Forum at www.pipercubforum.com

David Brooks wrote:
"Chris Nielsen" wrote in message
news

Here's how we do it.... When we do an overhead join, we start 500 feet
above circuit altitude, and when ready, descend on the non-traffic side,
i.e. the upwind side - the other side of the circuit from downwind, then
when we're down to circuit altitude, we turn and fly the crosswind leg,
then, while looking for traffic we turn downwind and fly the rest
normally... I trust this doesn't come under the category of descending

on

you?


I've asked this before, but doesn't the dead side descending entry used in
UK (and, presumably from the above, New Zealand) mean that there is always
traffic noise on both sides of the runway? Many of the single runways in my
area have the pattern on one geographical side (e.g. LP 10, RP 28), thus
removing noise from, in this example, the south side. It also reduces the
fall-out-of-the-sky fear factor from people on the ground when there are
buildings on the unused side.

Or does the fact that the planes on the dead side are descending from
TPA+500 mean the noise is less intrusive?

-- David Brooks




I guess the deal is that since you've got reduced throttle setting and
you're not there for very long it doesn't really matter....

Don't really have a good answer for you, and I think I should have one!!!!

Rgds

chris

Cub Driver wrote:


My home field has a nuclear plant a few miles to the south, and the
local rule since 9/11 is never to point your plane in its direction.
The ocean is a couple miles east, so most traffic is coming from the
west.


Interesting! Just a completely off topic question - feel free to flame
me mercilessly... I live in what is described as a nuclear-free
country. I don't know if you guys remember but back in the 80s our
government banned US ships and so on... But anyway, I've just had a
nasty email exchange with our local Green Party, who now want to ban US
military flights from Christchurch airport because they supply the Pine
Gap spy facility in Australia, which shares with the US...

Idiots!!!! I'm firing off another email to these bloody tree-hugging
hippies now...

All the best

Chris

The US Congress passed the Federal Aviation Act which authorizes and directs
the FAA to develop plans for and formulate policy

That's right. The FAA issues regulations. They are not laws. If you
violate the regs, you get an administrative punishment.

all the best -- Dan Ford
email:

see the Warbird's Forum at www.warbirdforum.com
and the Piper Cub Forum at www.pipercubforum.com

Cub Driver wrote:

"I can make a very good case that the classic 45-degree
entry is itself a violation of the FARs,..."

I understand that to mean "ridiculous as it seems, I can ..."

We know someone can make a case for it. People do it all the time on
this newsgroup. That doesn't make it a good case,

He called it a "very good case."
Todd Pattist
(Remove DONTSPAMME from address to email reply.)
___
Make a commitment to learn something from every flight.
Share what you learn.

"Cub Driver" wrote in message
...

Finally, someone who thinks like I do!

It would help if you guys would post what airport you are based at, so
I can avoid them.

Because we keep our heads on a swivel and assume traffic could come from any
direction and fly defensively you don't want to fly at our airports? Dang,
I didn't know there were people like you actually flying. Tunnel vision is
a very bad thing in the pattern Dan. It could get you dead.

all the best -- Dan Ford
email:

see the Warbird's Forum at www.warbirdforum.com
and the Piper Cub Forum at www.pipercubforum.com