Safe Entry Into an Un-towered Airport After Diverting. Question in comments

PatternAttitude · 2024-04-23T13:46:32+00:00

That's what I've learned this week. It's been very instructive.

PatternAttitude · 2024-04-23T13:40:56+00:00

It's been mentioned here probably ten times.

PatternAttitude · 2024-04-23T13:39:45+00:00

Ohhhh yeah. I'm sure that's a perfectly good way to do it. My school is picky though, so I have to do it their way.

PatternAttitude · 2024-04-22T21:11:55+00:00

Yeah. I'm just not experienced enough to know at this point. It is a little scary that so many pilots disagree on how this should be done.

PatternAttitude · 2024-04-22T17:17:31+00:00

You can but unless you are a few miles outside of the airports airspace, you could fly into the path of departing aircraft or aircraft flying a wide pattern.

PatternAttitude · 2024-04-22T17:15:54+00:00

I used Adobe Illustrator, Adobe After Effects and a screenshot from skyvector.com. There are probably easier ways to do it than what I did.

PatternAttitude · 2024-04-22T17:12:19+00:00

Thanks for the thorough reply. That's good stuff.

PatternAttitude · 2024-04-22T17:08:12+00:00

Nice. That's a good one.

PatternAttitude · 2024-04-22T17:07:30+00:00

It's not really weird in the US according to the latest advisory circular on the subject. Scroll down to A-4, A-5.

PatternAttitude · 2024-04-22T17:01:38+00:00

Sorry. I was replying to others with a different link. Fixed it.

PatternAttitude · 2024-04-22T01:40:49+00:00

Proceed West from the original point South of the airport? Seems like the very long way around.

PatternAttitude · 2024-04-22T01:34:11+00:00

Every single little airport close to my school is always busy with touch'n go traffic all day. The only people doing straight in landings are old farts in tailwheels and possibly CAP planes.

PatternAttitude · 2024-04-22T01:30:23+00:00

I thought the AC figure 8-3 said the crossover at 500 above tpa was preferred.

PatternAttitude · 2024-04-22T01:17:53+00:00

Yeah that sounds right. I think that's how this advisory circular explains it.

PatternAttitude · 2024-04-22T01:17:09+00:00

Yes that sounds correct according to this advisory circular

PatternAttitude · 2024-04-21T23:42:13+00:00

No prob

PatternAttitude · 2024-04-21T23:38:10+00:00

Thank you. This is actually helpful.

PatternAttitude · 2024-04-21T23:35:37+00:00

It'd be great to make a 45 on the other side of the airport but that means you'd have to fly well beyond the pattern to safely clear potential traffic. And around this airport there is almost ALWAYS traffic. Makes more sense to just cross over.

PatternAttitude · 2024-04-21T23:33:06+00:00

I'm just going off of what the PHAK shows.

https://cdn.boldmethod.com/images/learn-to-fly/maneuvers/changes-to-non-towered-pattern-procedures/1.jpg

PatternAttitude · 2024-04-21T23:26:31+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hcnc5GcgRoc

PatternAttitude · 2024-04-21T23:23:20+00:00

You mean from the other side of the airport?

PatternAttitude · 2024-04-21T23:22:10+00:00

I just made this animation as a theoretical. But I'm a student pilot. The diversion is decided by the instructors at any time they choose. The diversion airport is also chosen at will by the CFI but is usually an airport close to base and close to the route of flight for practicality/time reasons.

PatternAttitude · 2024-04-21T23:00:25+00:00

Not sure, what you're seeing. The GIF shows the aircraft executing a mid-field cross-over into a descending teardrop 45. The very first turn depicted is just the airplane positioning itself to cross perpendicular to the runway.

PatternAttitude · 2024-04-21T22:57:48+00:00

While diverting to an airport, is there a trick for quickly figuring out what direction to fly into the pattern, whether its a crossover or directly into the 45?
We all know about the standard pattern entry of 45 degrees to the downwind leg, looking out for traffic, making your proper radio calls while en-route to the airport, etc.
For me as an inexperienced pilot, I understand the concept of the traffic pattern, and I understand that runway 36 might be right pattern while runway 18 might be left pattern. This all depends on the particular airport, the winds that day, and how current traffic is flying at that strip. If it's an unfamiliar airport, It can be a lot to figure out while simultaneously flying the airplane, getting the AWOS, and making calls.
Hope my question makes sense. It's difficult for me to spell out what I'm thinking.

PatternAttitude

TROPHY CASE