The standard pattern that traffic follows when landing at or taking off from an airport, or when performing touch-and-goes. The pattern - or circuit - can use either right-hand or left-hand turns and has five segments: upwind, crosswind, downwind, base, and final.
Questions tagged [traffic-pattern]
77 questions
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Is it "cutting off" in the pattern when I go before a plane that is going faster than I am but let me in first?
While turning from the 45˚ to the downwind leg for a downwind pattern landing in a Cessna 182, a Cheyenne was calling 5 miles out on a GPS approach for a straight in landing. Clear day, both flying VFR, uncontrolled airport. He and I had been…
WildFlyer
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Why have different pattern altitudes for different aircraft?
In the FAA AFD for Santa Rosa airport (KSTS), the pattern altitude is given as 1,000’ AGL for small aircraft, and 1,500’ AGL for large aircraft.
Why do these altitudes differ? Doesn’t it compromise having a uniform pattern altitude so aircraft can…
Peter
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What is the purpose of a Traffic Pattern?
I always see images with a runway and a rectangular flight path over it and ask myself why do the pilots take off, fly around the runway and get back and land, what is the purpose of doing that: take off, fly parallel to the runway and land? Am I…
user13197
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In a pattern, when do you begin your descent from TPA if following another aircraft?
I had always been taught to begin a descent from TPA abeam the touchdown point, even if tower tells me to follow another aircraft. Yesterday I flew with an instructor who did not want me to descend from TPA until abeam the aircraft I was following.…
jskypilot
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How could I calculate the correct distance from the runway to be able to fly a continuous downwind to final turn?
I’m not even sure if this is a safe/allowed procedure at controlled airports so it is purely hypothetical.
Assuming there are calm winds at the field, is there a way to calculate the distance your plane must be from the centerline (see “x”) of the…
Austin S
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I flew the wrong pattern at an uncontrolled airport... Should I be worried?
Ugh... I'm beating myself up as I feel I made a pretty serious mistake over the weekend. I'm a PPL trying to build up XC hours trying to work towards my instrument. Over the weekend I did a short XC to an extremely remote desert airport which is a…
addennis
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Which atmospheric factors that can affect the performance of an aircraft while flying a circuit?
Which atmospheric factors that can affect the performance of an aircraft while flying a circuit? Apart from the general wind shift.
Syed Tariq
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Why at some airports/airfields you need to fly a non-standard circuit/pattern?
Why at some airports/airfields you need to fly a non-standard circuit/pattern, what are the specific reasons for this and what are the differences between them while flying?
Syed Tariq
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Is there a good systematic approach to flying an 800 foot pattern?
I have a systematic approach to flying a 1000 foot pattern: abeam the threshold, start a 500 fpm descent; turn when 300 feet below pattern altitude; etc.
Does anyone have a systematic approach to flying 800 foot patterns? I'm looking for something…
Scott Murray
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