You're at a nontowered airport on a warm, sunny, severe-clear late afternoon. It's been a great day for flying, and it's nice to take in the airport ambiance as the sun begins to cast its golden, setting glow.
But this reverie soon comes to an end. Pilots wanting to land before nightfall converge on the airport from all directions. Soon the sky is full of airplanes jockeying for position in the landing pattern. It's clear that some pilots have unorthodox ideas about traffic pattern procedures, ideas that can cause dangerous conflicts and close calls. What you're seeing is the gotcha of nontowered airport operations: In the absence of a control tower, pilots must become their own air traffic controllers. Some do better jobs than others, and some airports provide more challenges than others. A complacent, rusty, or impulsive pilot at a busy airport is apt to face the most daunting tasks getting safely around the pattern — and then there's the landing! Add gusty, shifting crosswinds to the stresses of a clogged, chaotic traffic pattern and you've got a huge workload.
Take a busy airport like AOPA's home base at the Frederick Municipal Airport in Maryland, with its combination of an FAR Part 135 charter operation, two flight-training operations (one of them using helicopters), a glider club, and a state police medevac helicopter base. Now factor in its status as a busy corporate-aircraft reliever airport for the Washington, D.C., area, and its proximity to the prohibited airspace surrounding the presidential retreat at Camp David (P-40), and you can see how busy the airport can be. There are plenty more just like it.
Safety and smooth, evenly spaced flows of traffic in the landing pattern are enhanced when pilots follow standardized procedures. The Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM) lays down the basics. AOPA's Airport Directory and other airport reference materials can also provide valuable information about each airport's specific environment.
It's best to enter the downwind leg of a nontowered airport's traffic pattern at midfield, on a 45-degree interception angle. This gives you a good viewing perspective of all legs of the pattern. You should be at pattern altitude (anywhere from 600 feet agl to 1,500 feet agl — check your airport reference for the recommended altitude), and your downwind leg should be flown as close as is comfortable for the airplane you're flying. Generally speaking, the smaller the airplane the closer you can fly to the runway. The goal is to keep the airport within gliding distance, but not so close that you need steep bank angles to maneuver to the proper tracks for the base and final approach legs.
Some instructors recommend flying so that the runway appears at mid-span of a low-wing single-engine airplane, or mid-strut of a high-wing, strut-braced single. This turns out to be approximately one-quarter mile from the runway. For the purposes of this article, we'll talk about flying light singles from now on.
Maintain pattern altitude until reaching a position abeam the approach end of the runway. Sometimes called the key position, this is the spot where you will have completed your prelanding checks, and where you typically make the first flap extension and power reduction for the descent. In retractable-gear airplanes, the landing gear should be extended at this point.
When to turn to the base leg? Most instructors say you should wait until the approach end of the landing runway is at a position 45 degrees behind you. You don't want to fly too far from the runway on downwind, but you also don't want to turn to the base leg prematurely and be too high. This would tempt you into a steep, high-airspeed descent on base and final — something you want to avoid. A nice, steady, stabilized rate of descent at a constant airspeed is the goal — and the secret to good, consistent landings.
Of course, you've been looking for traffic from the time you approached the pattern. But on base leg it's time to pick up your scan. Be sure to frequently check for arriving traffic along the final approach path ahead of you, and along the extended final approach track.
The turn to final should be timed according to your airplane's groundspeed. In order to properly roll out on the extended runway centerline, you'll have to turn sooner in a faster airplane. Wait too long, and you'll overshoot the extended runway centerline.
The final approach leg is an especially busy place. This is the time for adjusting power, flap deflection, airspeed, and trim to meet the target approach profile. You should be checking VASI (visual approach slope indicator), PAPI (precision approach path indicator), or other vertical guidance cues to maintain a safe descent angle. You also should be checking your airspeed indicator, manifold pressure gauge (if so equipped), and tachometer to keep your airspeed nailed to the proper value. But it's just as important to keep your eyes peeled for nearby traffic. Studies show that most midair collisions at nontowered airports tend to occur on the base and final legs. The stretch along short final is the most dangerous spot. Many midairs happen below 400 feet agl, within a half-mile of the runway threshold. Quite a few such accidents involve one airplane descending into another while mere inches above the runway.
Apart from following standardized procedures, what else can we do to best avoid in-pattern midairs? Here are some tips:
Learn the active runway and winds. Tune in the airport's AWOS (automated weather observation system) or ASOS (automated surface observation system) to get the details on surface wind strength and direction. Windsocks, wind tees, and segmented circle symbology can give this information if there's no one manning the unicom or CTAF (common traffic advisory frequency), or if the pattern is empty.
Make radio calls. No, you're not required to broadcast your position at nontowered fields, but it sure helps. If your airplane has a radio, that is. Make your first announcement well before entering the pattern, say, 10 nm out. State your altitude and bearing and range from the airport, and listen for other aircraft making calls in the pattern. This also helps confirm the runway in use. Other broadcasts should be made when entering the downwind leg, when turning base and final, when on short final, and when either going around or clearing the active runway.
Overfly the airport at altitude. Some instructors advocate flying over the airport 1,000 feet above pattern altitude before entering the pattern. This involves flying past the airport, then descending and making a 180-degree turn to return to join the airport's downwind leg. The theory is that you get an optimum view of the area's traffic. The downside is that other aircraft can slide into your blind spots as you do all that maneuvering.
Don't "drop in" on the pattern. Enter the pattern at pattern altitude. Descending into the pattern leaves you open to conflicts with aircraft below. This is especially true if you're flying a low-wing airplane, and there's a high-wing airplane below. This makes for a huge blind spot affecting both airplanes.
Don't make huge patterns. Stay close to the runway. Some pilots insist on flying patterns more suited for a Boeing 747 than a light single. When you're flying a huge pattern, the rest of the traffic will be unaware of your location (and you of theirs!), so expect traffic conflicts when you eventually get closer to the airport.
Avoid straight-in finals. Yes, you can make any kind of pattern you want at nontowered fields. But of all the transgressions against standard procedure, the straight-in final may be the worst. Here you risk T-boning those who fly standard patterns as they fly from base to final. This is why looking up and down final is so important when navigating the base leg.
Don't butt in. It is both dangerous and impolite to "jump the line" and cut in front of another airplane on final approach. On final, the airplane at the lower altitude has the right of way over other airplanes — but that doesn't mean you can take advantage of this rule by turning final ahead of others.
Space yourself. Allow enough distance between you and the airplane ahead. A good rule of thumb on the downwind leg is to allow the preceding airplane to pass abeam your left side (in left-hand traffic patterns; abeam your right in right-hand patterns) before turning base. This should give the preceding airplane enough room to land and clear the runway before it's your turn to touch down. When the pattern is chock-full of airplanes, this rule can cause the pattern to enlarge. That's unfortunate because pilots at the end of the queue may not realize — or see — that there are so many airplanes ahead, and may be tempted to prematurely turn onto the base leg: another very good reason to announce your position over the unicom or CTAF, and keep an eagle-eye lookout when flying in the base-to-final region.
It takes a certain amount of discipline to fly consistent, standardized patterns. Sure, you can fly patterns at nontowered fields any way you want, but don't let the letter of the law diminish its spirit. Are you absolutely sure there's no one in the pattern? Then go ahead and make a straight-in entry to final. Or make a military-style overhead entry. But think hard before you do. How do you know there aren't any non-radio-equipped airplanes on base or final? How do you know there aren't any airplanes on instrument approaches — in actual IMC or doing practice approaches — to the same runway? There's all this and more to think about, especially during those sunset-draped arrivals at the end of a perfect flying day.
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