Comments on: Traffic Patterns http://www.aroundthepattern.com/training/traffic-patterns/ Ramblings about flying for fun and profit. Sat, 04 Feb 2012 15:39:33 -0800 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Tracy http://www.aroundthepattern.com/training/traffic-patterns/comment-page-1/#comment-49 Tracy Thu, 09 Oct 2008 19:36:00 +0000 http://www.aroundthepattern.com/?p=140#comment-49 daveg, Thanks for the comment. I totally agree. I hadn't even thought about the Hobbs meter implications. You definitely have to modify your airport operations with the conditions that you encounter. That's one of the great parts about flying; no two flights are the same. You certainly won't make any friends landing on the numbers and then taxiing 2000' to clear the runway with an airliner on final nor will you make points if you can't touchdown on the assigned colored marker at OSH. We all have to get into the habit of practicing more than just the soft touchdown. daveg,
Thanks for the comment. I totally agree. I hadn’t even thought about the Hobbs meter implications.

You definitely have to modify your airport operations with the conditions that you encounter. That’s one of the great parts about flying; no two flights are the same. You certainly won’t make any friends landing on the numbers and then taxiing 2000′ to clear the runway with an airliner on final nor will you make points if you can’t touchdown on the assigned colored marker at OSH.

We all have to get into the habit of practicing more than just the soft touchdown.

]]> By: daveg http://www.aroundthepattern.com/training/traffic-patterns/comment-page-1/#comment-48 daveg Thu, 09 Oct 2008 19:23:02 +0000 http://www.aroundthepattern.com/?p=140#comment-48 I'm based at an airport that also has quite a bit of student activity. It's not unusual to have two or three 172s doing T&Gs at any given time, and I too am always surprised (and frequently annoyed, truth be told) with the 747-style traffic patterns that they fly. I understand, of course, that a brand new student can use the extra time inherent in such a pattern, but they never seem to advance beyond that and fly what I consider to be a normal, safe pattern. They also insist on landing right on the numbers, each and every time. Again, this is understandable early on, but I can sit on my front porch all afternoon watching guys paying Hobbs land right on the big '4' and spend $20 taxiing the mile back to the FBO. It's important to be able to touch down right where you want to, so if I were teaching them, I'd have them aiming for a spot that gets them safely on the ground and off the runway as efficiently as possible. It really messes things up when someone lands right on the '4' and spends the next two or three minutes taxiing down to the next taxiway. As far as gliding in from downwind, I have to stay high and tight to have any hope at all. An RV-6 is a terrific airplane, but it is most assuredly <i>not</i> a great glider. I hate it when I have to fly a mile beyond the end of the approach end because I'm behind one of the wide pattern crowd, knowing full well that I'm being put in a slightly riskier situation by an under trained pilot. I’m based at an airport that also has quite a bit of student activity. It’s not unusual to have two or three 172s doing T&Gs at any given time, and I too am always surprised (and frequently annoyed, truth be told) with the 747-style traffic patterns that they fly. I understand, of course, that a brand new student can use the extra time inherent in such a pattern, but they never seem to advance beyond that and fly what I consider to be a normal, safe pattern.

They also insist on landing right on the numbers, each and every time. Again, this is understandable early on, but I can sit on my front porch all afternoon watching guys paying Hobbs land right on the big ’4′ and spend $20 taxiing the mile back to the FBO. It’s important to be able to touch down right where you want to, so if I were teaching them, I’d have them aiming for a spot that gets them safely on the ground and off the runway as efficiently as possible. It really messes things up when someone lands right on the ’4′ and spends the next two or three minutes taxiing down to the next taxiway.

As far as gliding in from downwind, I have to stay high and tight to have any hope at all. An RV-6 is a terrific airplane, but it is most assuredly not a great glider. I hate it when I have to fly a mile beyond the end of the approach end because I’m behind one of the wide pattern crowd, knowing full well that I’m being put in a slightly riskier situation by an under trained pilot.

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