FishBelly is really hung up on this, isn't he?
Polemics are fun for a bit, but now it's merely tedious.
How's this for plain English?
Are Overhead breaks "legal?" Usually.
Are Overhead breaks "smart?" It depends. When the pattern is congested with a mix of skills, speeds, and types, a straight-in may not be safe, either. Sometimes it's better to just fly out a bit, visually assess positions, and join gracefully, on a 45 or perhaps midfield. The AIM is advisory, but good sense, graciousness, patience, and cooperation saves a whole lot of regulation reading.
My initial post should not have mentioned Overhead breaks as that maneuver was not the cause of this particular near-miss.
However I mentioned overhead breaks because there seems to be a connection between pilots who feel fine doing impromptu, mid-field aerobatics, or unfamiliar maneuvers in the pattern without coordinating with -- or at least considering -- others.
This is not merely an RV issue, but my encounter was with an RV so I posted about that encounter. I wonder if all the VAF folks would have run over here to defend Champ drivers if that had been the offending party?
I agree with those who say it's the same practicing approaches on a VFR day -- usually we're turned over far enough out to use common phrases everyone can understand, not just IR pilots.
When I do power-off 180s I announce, "Local traffic, Chief 1234, abeam the numbers, practicing power-off landing, will be turning continuous 180 to landing, Local traffic" even with no one in the pattern. I'll usually avoid this sort of practice when the pattern is busy just to be considerate.
I've read the response thread over at the VAF board, and, as expected, about 1 third are reasoned calls for civility and decorum, a third are bandwagon, and a third are inciters.
Too bad. I might have had a distorted view of RV owner-pilots before. That distorted view may be more correct than I ever imagined.
Sorry to those third who are like the rest of us -- interested in fostering
all of aviation -- but there seems to be a core of rabid types who aren't doing your cause much good.
FWIW, I tried to establish radio contact with the RV -- Surprise! No response.