Traffic Patterns - Lesson 2

in a previous lesson we discussed the procedure for rectangular course this was partially done to prepare you for approaching an airport and ultimately landing the airplane the same principles used to successfully fly a rectangular course will also be applied to traffic patterns before arrival at your intended Airport a few things need to be figured out first and foremost you need to determine the active runway this should preferably be done at least 10 nautical miles away from the airport to allow enough time to complete this and the subsequent steps this initial planning phase is also a good opportunity to review your runway options and make a mental note of the traffic pattern altitude you should already have familiarized yourself with this information before you climbed into the airplane at a towered airfield ATC will assign the runway to you if you are operating at a non towered airfield however it will be up to you to decide which runway to use if the airport has a weather reporting system determining the wind direction and runway in use will be simple remember you generally want to select the runway that most directly lines up with the wind in the absence of the wind information you can also listen to the common traffic advisory frequency to determine which runway other pilots are currently using if neither of these options are available over fly the airfield at 500 to 1000 feet above traffic pattern altitude and observe the wind direction indications on the ground at some airports overflying may not be an option due to skydiving activity so be sure to check the airport facility directory no domes and in flight guide prior to your flight after the active runway has been selected the next step is to determine if that runway uses left or right traffic for non-towered airports again reference the in flight guide or AFD or if you're over flying the airport look at the segmented circle at towered airports this is less vital since ATC will assign you a specific entry keep in mind however that they could assign you an entry on the side opposite the designated pattern if it's more convenient for either of you now that the pattern direction has been determined you must figure out the appropriate entry heading towered airports offer an array of entry options but and non-towered it is expected that you enter the pattern on a 45-degree angle to the downwind at the midfield point of the leg to get the most accurate entry heading a little math will be involved start with the active runways heading and add or subtract 180 degrees as appropriate so that your result is between 1 and 360 degrees resulting in the downwind leg heading from there calculate the 45-degree intercept heading if you're entering a left pattern subtract 45 degrees from downwind if you're entering a right pattern add 45 degrees to downwind remember left is less that results in the heading you should be flying toward the airport to enter the pattern now that you know how to enter the pattern you need to position yourself in the correct location where flying that calculated heading will direct you towards the airport taking the reciprocal of the entry heading will give you the relative position you need to be at for the entry for example let's say you were trying to land at the DeLand Airport runway 5 is active which uses a left pattern so we add 180 250 which would give us 230 subtracting 45 because of the left pattern would show that a heading of 185 degrees should be flown on the end frame that means that you need to be at a position of 0 0 5 degrees relative to the airport which is almost directly north of the airport depending on where you currently are you'd need to maneuver yourself to the north side of the airport for the entry while maneuvering for the entry point don't get any closer than 2 nautical miles when within 500 feet of the traffic pattern altitude staying away will keep you from becoming a hazard to those in the pattern and minimize any chance of them confusing you for someone in the pattern if you end up circling around the airport to reach the entry position you may find it a little tricky to know when exactly you are at the entry position one trick you can use is to keep the airport on your wingtip as you circle once the heading that your wingtip points to matches the entry heading you can turn 90 degrees and be on the entry leg make sure you continue to stay at least two nautical miles from the airport until you are at the entry point only then should you turn inbound while maneuvering towards the entry point you should also be planning your descent you'll want to be at traffic pattern altitude when you reach the entry point so keep your altitude in mind while approaching it once you've reached your entry point and are at the TPA you should be flying your entry heading with the nose of the airplane pointed at the approach end of the runway of course just like with ground reference crabbing will be needed to keep the airplane from drifting once the airplane is approximately a half mile from the runway enter the downwind by rolling to a heading that will allow you to fly parallel to the runway for a visual reference of the distance the runway should be positioned about halfway up the wing strut while flying on the downwind plan out your aiming point and an intended touchdown point as you come a beam your intended point of landing it is time to start configuring the airplane for landing the specific setup will depend upon what type of landing you wish to accomplish and will be covered in other lessons typically at this point you will begin your initial descent towards the runway once the airplane reaches a position at which the landing point is at a 45 degree angle behind you it is time to turn to the base leg except in extenuating circumstances keep your banks to a maximum of 30 degrees for your turns when flying the baseleg remember that the airplane will be in a crosswind use the proper wind drift correction that you learned in rectangular course to maintain a ground track that is perpendicular to the runway continue your setup for the landing and make any necessary adjustments to pitch and power to maintain your desired airspeed and glide path when you are almost lined up with the runway turn to the final leg if there is a crosswind you will need to crab the airplane into the wind in order to maintain the extended center line of the runway complete the descent final items checklist prior to reaching 300 feet above ground level make small Corrections to account for wind drift and remember that as the airplane slows down the controls will become less effective so larger deflections of the control services may be necessary in order to get the desired response from the airplane even while crabbing into the wind you should keep the airplane coordinated on final approach by using rudder as necessary now all there is left to think about is landing the airplane if you are entering the traffic pattern after takeoff it is important to keep the airplane on the extended runway centerline during the entire departure leg unless noise abatement procedures or ATC specify something different at approximately 300 feet below traffic pattern altitude start your turn to the crosswind leg again use your ground reference skills to crab into the wind and fly a perpendicular path relative to the runway shortly after turn towards the downwind leg time your turn so that by the time you roll wings level the airplane will be flying parallel to the runway approximately a half mile away at about the same time as you are rolling out on downwind it should be time to level off a traffic pattern altitude and configure the airplane at the appropriate speed and power setting if you are instead planning on departing the traffic pattern it is important to remember that many airports have specific procedures for noise abatement so be sure to check all of the appropriate publications before you go flying if you are departing from a towered Airport ATC will most likely assign you headings and altitudes to fly until you are clear of their airspace if you are departing from a non towered airport with no published recommendations there are two options recommended for departing the pattern the first option is to continue straight out on the upwind leg while climbing to your intended altitude once you have reached two miles from the departure Airport it will be safe to turn on course the second option is to fly the upwind leg until reaching traffic pattern altitude and then turn 45 degrees in the direction of the traffic pattern while climbing to your intended altitude remember with either of these options the airport may have specific noise abatement procedures that you should be aware of and follow remember to complete the climb checklist when appropriate during your departure unless you are being launched off an aircraft carrier or drop from the belly of another airplane chances are every time you begin an into flight it will be at an airport airports vary from single strip grass fields to complex terminals having multiple paved runways and taxiways regardless of the type of airport the pilot should know and abide by the rules and operating procedures applicable to the airport being used these rules have been established for the safety and consideration of both the people in the air and on the ground but regardless of the type of airport you are at it is still ultimately your responsibility to see and avoid other aircraft so always research the airports that you will be flying to know their rules and restrictions and keep your eyes and ears open for traffic never assume everyone will be as prepared and professional as you are

Channel: ERAU SpecialVFR

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Id: d06ZehDNdM8

Length: 10min 20sec (620 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 24 2017