overtaking slow planes in the pattern

[N5922S]

We sometimes get student pilots from Dallas or Longview who fly REALLY wide patterns or insist on teardrop entries -- makes me daydream about P51s and ....

 

[Witmo]

Why would you be upset if they're no factor for you? Are you one of those drivers on the highway who speeds up when you see someone about to pass you?

No, I'm not. I have no problem with people passing me on an expressway (or in cruise flight) but I would take exception to someone cutting in front of me when I'm in a queue for landing. It may not be illegal but it is impolite. Rather like entering on five mile final when aircraft are established in the pattern and forcing everyone else to extend or go around. Legal maybe, courteous, not.

 

[RoscoeT]

No, I'm not. I have no problem with people passing me on an expressway (or in cruise flight) but I would take exception to someone cutting in front of me when I'm in a queue for landing. It may not be illegal but it is impolite. Rather like entering on five mile final when aircraft are established in the pattern and forcing everyone else to extend or go around. Legal maybe, courteous, not.

Maybe we should clear up use of this term. To me, "cutting me off", or "cutting in front" implies I must adjust for someone else's actions. If you're the only one in the pattern and you're flying a 1 mile extended downwind, and someone flies a tight pattern inside you and parks their plane in the hangar before you touchdown...you consider that "cutting in front" and uncourteous, even if they tell you what they're doing and are no factor? That would be a minority opinion.

Flying isn't like driving where if there's a line of cars waiting to turn in somewhere and one person "cuts in" it causes the person behind them to stop or slow down, which causes a chain reaction and more of a pile up behind. Not so in the air...or at least if it does cause anyone behind them ANY factor whatsoever, it ceases to be appropriate.

Consider me uncourteous, but I'm not going to drag my airplane around a huge pattern flyer just because someone might think it's rude to land in front of them. If this happens to be you someday, well I'll communicate, keep you in sight, and won't be a factor, but I'll make no apologies. If you think I'm "cutting you off" when I'm pulling into my hangar while you're still on final, then I guess you'll just have to go on considering me uncourteous.

 

[Ghery]

This does not imply that anyone wins when he goes full speed ahead into the busy harbor.

Nope, not at all. When I'm at the helm of my boat and you are bigger than me (like the ships that go past my house in and out of the Port of Olympia) I'm giving you the right of way. Period.

Standard procedure in Miami. I grew up and learned to drive in New York and never witnessed that as common behavior until I lived in Miami. And it ain't just highways - it's everywhere. You put your turn signal on to merge into the next lane and that is the signal for the driver to close up any gap that was already there.

Probably learned in Boston.