FLYER Club Member
Sun Mar 26, 2017 6:17 am
#1526799
OK, I’m not a pilot (although I am an experienced GA passenger) so that’s why I’m asking this question …
Sat watching and listening at an airfield this afternoon, many inbound radio calls identifying and asking for joining instructions.
I hear someone call up, he was told there are three in the circuit, he replies “I will join downwind”, where everyone else joins overhead. It came across as though the pilot told the FISO that was what he was doing, and indeed that is what he did.
I maybe completely wrong but got the impression that FISO was expecting the pilot to join overhead and become number four.
Pilot arrives downwind and very quickly closes up on the number 3 in circuit; so he overtakes number 3 (above him) and goes for extended downwind (after talking to FISO).
Even after extended downwind it is obvious that this pilot is very close to the traffic in front of him, in the final seconds of his approach it is obvious the runway is not clear so he calls to go around (actually it was obvious it was going to be a go around long before the pilot called it); he then executes a tight circuit as number one all the way around and lands.
I know the aircraft in question is based at the field and the aircraft is probably a bit quicker than most aircraft operating from this field. Because the aircraft is based there I would assume that the pilot knows what other aircraft are likely to be in the circuit, i.e. many and probably all slower than him.
I couldn’t help get the impression that this pilot was almost trying to push his way in. The way he joined, then having to go to an extended downwind and yet still closing up on the traffic ahead to the point where he had to go around; something didn’t seem quite right.
May be there isn’t enough information here to make an informed comment but watching the movements for a couple hours, and it was very busy with a mix of fixed and rotary operations, this one approach stood out from all the others.
Sat watching and listening at an airfield this afternoon, many inbound radio calls identifying and asking for joining instructions.
I hear someone call up, he was told there are three in the circuit, he replies “I will join downwind”, where everyone else joins overhead. It came across as though the pilot told the FISO that was what he was doing, and indeed that is what he did.
I maybe completely wrong but got the impression that FISO was expecting the pilot to join overhead and become number four.
Pilot arrives downwind and very quickly closes up on the number 3 in circuit; so he overtakes number 3 (above him) and goes for extended downwind (after talking to FISO).
Even after extended downwind it is obvious that this pilot is very close to the traffic in front of him, in the final seconds of his approach it is obvious the runway is not clear so he calls to go around (actually it was obvious it was going to be a go around long before the pilot called it); he then executes a tight circuit as number one all the way around and lands.
I know the aircraft in question is based at the field and the aircraft is probably a bit quicker than most aircraft operating from this field. Because the aircraft is based there I would assume that the pilot knows what other aircraft are likely to be in the circuit, i.e. many and probably all slower than him.
I couldn’t help get the impression that this pilot was almost trying to push his way in. The way he joined, then having to go to an extended downwind and yet still closing up on the traffic ahead to the point where he had to go around; something didn’t seem quite right.
May be there isn’t enough information here to make an informed comment but watching the movements for a couple hours, and it was very busy with a mix of fixed and rotary operations, this one approach stood out from all the others.
