Pattern entries

[bullwinkle]

What makes laugh is the folks that say they do the teardrop entry because it's safer, and then go maybe a 1/2 mile outside the traffic pattern and then whip it around like a fighter pilot.

Yeah, I always go WAY farther than I need to when making that turn, I do not want to get halfway through the turn and be nose-to-nose with a Baron or somebody else running a big pattern.

I honestly don't know if the teardrop method is safer than the midfield TPA method, but it *feels* safer to me. But as I said, the crosswind method seems better as long as nobody is taking off or on short final for a touch-and-go. But even then your collision exposure seems pretty brief.

 

[dtuuri]

I like the idea of the xwind approach at pattern altitude...

The crosswind leg is "beyond the end of the runway". Look it up.

Cutting across the runway is incompatible with traffic entering downwind normally. That's why they don't do it (both types of entries together) in Canada at airports that serve non-radio aircraft. Here, you always have to assume they're present. Don't do it.

dtuuri

 

[Dave Theisen]

On occasions where I need to enter from the opposite side , I'll fly an upwind leg, rather than just coming across the field. It gives me a chance to get a good look and evaluate what's going on. If I can't fit in to the flow off traffic, I'm in a much better position than I would be if I were nose to nose with somebody.


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[Hank S]

Ever meet somebody doing the exact same thing for the opposite runway, yet?

dtuuri

Not entering the pattern or on downwind. Did have the pleasure once, after a nearby field changed from RP to LP for one runway, to meet someone flying the old RP when we were both on base . . . Fun times!