Three miles out from the airport, the pilot of the C-340A announced he was doing a straight-in. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined the larger, faster airplane was not configured for landing as its approach speed was 180 knots. The published flap extension speed for the C-340A is 160 knots, and the landing gear extension speed is 140 knots.

Muscle memory, checklist use, and procedures often go hand in hand. Had the pilot of the C-340A flown the traffic pattern for the airport beginning with maneuvering for 45-degree angle entry on to the downwind at midfield, he might have remembered to slow down the airplane and configure it for landing.

NTSB reports are full of similar but thankfully mostly non-fatal events that can occur when the pilot on a straight-in forgets the landing gear—often at a non-towered airport. 

At a towered airport, the controllers often contact the pilot and advise them that their gear is not down with a simple “check gear” query. NTSB investigations into gear-up landings often include a statement from the pilot, who note that the straight-in, devoid of the usual cues such as turning on to the 45 or downwind, resulted in forgetting to run the checklist, which included the action of lowering the landing gear with the phrase “gear down and locked.”

Many instructors, myself included, advocate for at least three gear checks: downwind, base, and final. In the faster aircraft such as a twin, the landing gear is often deployed on the 45 as a means to help slow down the aircraft.

In a fixed-gear airplane you don’t have to worry about the landing gear position, but checking the position of the gear if possible (like looking out the window in the high wing aircraft) is a good habit.

Verbalizing the checklist on each leg of the pattern is also a good habit. There may be things that are “deferred,” such as putting the propeller to full as one does on final in a complex airplane to facilitate a go-around if needed.

My U.S. Air Force Academy-trained instructor beat this into me—and recitation had to end with “check list complete” in my authoritative pilot voice.

On a straight-in approach, you miss the cues for aircraft configuration changes, such as power reduction and addition of flaps.

Here’s a teachable moment: dropping all the flaps at once can potentially bend metal if the aircraft is outside of V_FE, and will trigger a pitch change that catches many novice pilots by surprise. The natural reaction is to take all the flaps out in one movement, which makes the bad situation worse.

I demonstrate this to the learner at an appropriate altitude and at a flap-friendly speed in the practice area just so they know what it feels like and what it does to the airplane and why it is not something you want to mess with when you are close to the ground.

We then discuss how the incremental deployment of flaps prevents the pitch surprise, as does following the prelanding checklist on each leg of the pattern to achieve the published speeds for each leg as recommended by the manufacturer.

Poor Approach, Poor Landing

One of the first lessons to be taught to the novice pilot is that a poor approach results in a poor landing. If you are behind the airplane, as in slow to reduce throttle, start the descent, deploy flaps, that landing will be ugly. This can happen during straight in approaches as the legs of the pattern are a reminder to the pilot to run the checklist and reconfigure the aircraft.  Instead, the pilot relies on experience and knowledge of the aircraft performance to determine when to do configuration changes. This experience is best gained with a seasoned CFI next to you and flown in an appropriate environment, like at a towered airport when the pilot requests and ATC grants a straight-in approach.

Straight-ins at non-towered airports are especially dangerous as we learned by the Watsonville collision. When an aircraft comes bombing into a pattern already occupied by other aircraft, it is very much like running a red light. There may be someone closer than you think on a collision course. You can’t slam the brakes on an airplane in the air. Entering the pattern on the 45 at pattern altitude provides better situational awareness as it gives the pilot more of an opportunity to scan for traffic, see and avoid it.

It is for this reason many instructors discourage their learners from doing straight-in approaches. While I agree they are not a good idea at a non-controlled airport, they should be, at the very least, briefed and the scenario flown in the practice area so the learner knows when to refer to the checklist, when to reduce power, when to lower the flaps, etc.

Outside a request from a tower, there are times when a straight-in is called for, such as when a magneto fails a few miles outside the traffic pattern and the airport is the closest suitable runway.

This is the scenario I use with my learners, as I experienced it in the real world as a learner. My CFI demonstrated the proper technique, troubleshooting the issue to no avail, calling my attention to the diminished engine power available and sight picture, and ensuring that we had the runway made before applying flaps and reducing the power to idle.

Many years later, I was the CFI and had this happen. The straight-in and landing was a nonevent. The chief mechanic brought me fragments of metal that had been the left magneto to show my ground school class.

Another scenario where a straight-in is appropriate is when the weather that was VFR or MVFR drops to IFR and you, the noninstrument-rated pilot in the non-IFR-equipped aircraft need to get down quickly.

Don’t Be That Pilot

There are pilots who, when they hear another pilot on the radio state they are planning to do a straight-in approach, will scold the pilot or even threaten to call the FAA on them. This is not a discussion to have on the radio.

I have witnessed this at nontowered airports. I tell my learners not to engage that person. Focus on flying the airplane. If you are the pilot doing the straight-in for any of the above mentioned reasons—weather, a mechanical issue, or perhaps even an airsick passenger that necessitates getting on the ground quickly but not declaring an emergency—wait until you get on the ground before you get into a “discussion” with the other pilot. 

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Answer: Having an airline service the airport isn’t the criteria used by the FAA  to determine if the facility needs a control tower. Rhinelander/Oneida County Airport (KRHI) in Wisconsin, for example, does not have a control tower, yet it is served daily by a regional airline connecting to Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (KMSP).

The FAA uses the number of aircraft operations—that is how busy the airport is—to determine if a tower is warranted. This is very similar to how cities monitor traffic on streets and install traffic lights to replace four-way stop signs when traffic increases.

The majority of the airports in the United States are nontowered because they don’t have the traffic to necessitate a control tower. Pilots learn to fly in and out of both towered and nontowered (also known as pilot-controlled) airports as part of their training. Pilots are taught to see and avoid other traffic—no matter what kind of airport they are at. While tower controllers will provide traffic advisories if able, pilots don’t rely on them to report when someone else is out there.

• READ MORE: Who Controls Offshore Airspace?

Additionally, not all towers are open 24/7. Busier airports, such as airline hub locations like Seattle, Atlanta, New York City, etc., have full-time towers, while smaller, less busy airports may have part-time towers. Tacoma Narrows Airport (KTIW), located 15 nm south of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (KSEA), has several busy flight schools, so there is a control tower that operates from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. PDT.

Pilots are taught to check their sectionals (a map for pilots) and other airport information listed online or in an FAA text called the Chart Supplement to determine if a facility has a control tower and, if so, learn its hours of operation and radio frequency to contact it.

The post Why Don’t All Airports Have Control Towers? appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The FAA recognizes this and has released a new advisory circular (AC) covering nontowered airport operations. While ACs are not regulatory in nature, they offer guidance for best practices. Much of the information should be a review for most pilots, as it is also covered in The Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge and Chapter 4 of the Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM).

However, the Advisory Circular AC 90-66C, released last week, is a must-read for flight instructors and pilots who operate at one of the 20,000 nontowered facilities in the U.S.

Nix the Straight-In Approach

One of the areas that is emphasized in the AC is a caution against performing a straight-in approach to a nontowered airport when there are other aircraft in the pattern. This practice deprives the pilot doing the straight-in the opportunity to ascertain the location of other aircraft that may be in the pattern. This type of approach can also put a pilot behind their aircraft as they lack the situational cues used to mark the configuration process, such as reducing the throttle and lowering landing gear and flaps.

The AC suggests that flying a straight-in might increase the possibility of a midair collision. One of the most violent and recent midairs at a nontowered airport occurred in Watsonville, California, on August 18, 2022. A Cessna 340A attempted a straight-in approach and collided with a Cessna 152 that was flying the pattern. The 340 is a twin nearly twice as large and twice as fast as the 152.

According to the preliminary National Transportation Safety Board report, the accident happened when both aircraft were on approach to Runway 20 at Watsonville Municipal Airport (KWVI) just before 3 p.m. The pilots were in communication with each other using the airport’s common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF) prior to impact. Both pilots stated their intentions to land at KWVI. Investigators noted the ADS-B record shows the 340 approaching the airport at approximately 180 knots. The normal flap extension speed for the aircraft is 160 knots, and the landing gear extension is 140 knots, so it is unclear if the aircraft was actually configured for landing at the time of the accident.

The 152 was ahead of the 340. In his last transmission, the pilot of the 152 noted the larger, faster airplane was closing on him and announced intentions to go around. The pilot of the 340 indicated he was looking for the 152.

One of the witnesses to the accident said the 340 appeared to roll right at the last second to avoid the 152, but it was too little, too late, and the aircraft wings collided. Carl Kruppa, 75, and Nannette Plett-Kruppa, 67, from Winton, California, and their dog were aboard the 340. Stuart Camenson, 32, from Santa Cruz was piloting the 152. All were killed in the crash.

Traffic Pattern Operations

Your CFI will tell you to keep your head on a swivel and self-announce your positions and actions in the pattern. 

The AC notes: “All traffic, whether IFR or VFR, should, at a minimum, monitor the CTAF. For departures a minimum of 10 minutes prior to taxi and arrivals a minimum of 10 miles out from the airport, you should broadcast your intentions. The importance of air-to-air communications cannot be overemphasized. Failure to follow this communication protocol has contributed to near midair collisions (NMAC), and as such could be considered careless and reckless operation of an aircraft.”

It is frightening to have a close encounter when the other aircraft is not talking to you or does not appear to have seen you before you took evasive action to avoid a midair in the pattern. One of the chilling factors of the Watsonville accident is that both pilots were in communication with each other and self announcing, yet the accident still happened. 

The AC stresses “the FAA does not regulate traffic pattern entry, only traffic pattern flow. This means that when entering the traffic pattern at an airport without an operating control tower, inbound pilots are expected to observe other aircraft already in the pattern and to conform to the traffic pattern in use. If there are no other aircraft present, the pilot should check traffic
indicators on the ground and wind indicators to determine which runway and traffic
pattern direction to use.”

The AC reminds us that proper entry into the pattern, including altitude, is important as well. You do not want to be that pilot who over flies the airport at pattern altitude instead of pattern plus 500 feet (if appropriate) and nearly has a midair after cutting off an airplane on downwind.

Exiting the pattern is another area of concern. Prior to advancing the throttle for takeoff, the pilot has announced their intentions such as “departing to the east via the crosswind.”

The AIM notes departing on the crosswind is good practice, and there are pilots who will remain at pattern altitude until past where they would normally turn downwind and then make a turn away from the airport. The AC emphasizes the need for pilots to avoid unnecessary radio communications. That’s a polite way of saying: Don’t get into an argument over the radio. There are some pilots who will aggressively correct the radio phraseology or flying habits of another pilot over the air waves—and it can get ugly. Don’t engage with these pilots, and do not be this pilot.

A few years ago, there was a pilot at my home airport who lectured student pilots—and anyone else he found fault with—over the radio when he objected to their phraseology. He was not an instructor. The FAA got wind of this poor behavior and placed a telephone call to the pilot. He was reminded of proper radio usage, and it was suggested that if he felt that strongly about it, he should become an instructor.

State Your Position

I’m a big fan of position reports that include the aircraft location in relation to the airport and the aircraft’s altitude: “(Insert name of airport) Cessna 172 Romeo Bravo 3 miles to the west over the gravel pit, 1,500 for landing Runway 34 (insert name of airport).”

The AC rightfully notes that reporting instrument fixes as the aircraft’s location may be confusing to VFR-only pilots. Instead, use the fixes’ position in relation to the airport (for example 4 miles to the south at 1,700 feet) along with your intentions.

Pro tip for other instructors: If the airport has an instrument approach, it’s a good idea to show the approach plate to the VFR pilots with an overlay of the VFR sectional. They may be surprised to learn that the place they love to fly the most is an initial approach fix for the airport, and that’s why they see so many airplanes out there. Note the altitude the IFR traffic is supposed to be at and plan accordingly.

Right of Way

There are many rights worth dying for—right of way is not one of them. Flying in front of another aircraft—especially one that is faster or close to your speed—can be and often is deadly. Remember the right-of-way rules you were required to learn.

The AC reminds us of the rules. Remember, if you think that other aircraft is too close to you—or they are not making radio calls and you don’t know what they are doing—instead of playing chicken, depart the pattern and reenter on the 45 degree to midfield downwind.

Don’t forget to check the VFR sectional updates for the letters “RP” for Right Pattern. It doesn’t matter if the airport has used left traffic for millenia, the FAA is perfectly within its rights to establish a right-hand traffic pattern if the situation warrants it—like there has been a change in what is on the ground below the original traffic pattern. It might be a temporary situation, like construction involving cranes, or something more permanent, like the establishment of a nursing home or subdivision.

The AC has an entry about helicopter operations. Helicopters fly lower than airplanes in the pattern and often fly opposite traffic. If your airport does not have helicopter operations, this can come as a surprise to the fixed-wing pilots.

The AC also suggests pilots make their aircraft as visible as possible in the air, using landing lights and strobes. One of my best instructors told me that seeing an aircraft is a definitive thing. You either do, or you don’t. “I think so” is not an acceptable answer. Have fun out there—but be careful.

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