Please help me to understand something about patterns

User Support Hub Aircraft & Systems
, ,
1

I have maybe a silly questions about patterns, but I haven’t really been able to find a clear answer.
Let’s say I’m flying a pattern at a small airport and I am on the downwind leg flying parallel to the runway.

How do I know I am actually on the flight path of the downwind leg, and not, let’s say, 60meters to the right of it?

In the VFR flight lessons in MSFS the turning points to the legs are marked and the instructor tells you if you go off the path, but obviously you do not have such a help normally in the sim and in real life.
How can the correct path be identified and how precisely do pilots have to stay on it?

Thank you in advance!

2

There is no set path for the legs in a pattern. How wide you fly your downwind is more a function of airspeed. In other words, you want to be wide enough that you can turn to base, fly wings level, then turn to final. The faster you are going, the wider your turns. 60 meters left or right isn’t going to make any difference. But there is such a thing as being too wide, too. I remember a time when I was doing pattern work and just about abeam the numbers my instructor reached over and pulled the throttle to idle and said I had just had an engine failure. If I had been at a normal distance from the runway on downwind, there would be no problem getting to the runway. But I was wide and there was no way I was going to make it. Lesson learned.

6 Likes
3

Thank you, that clears up so much!

4

The above is quite correct. Here is a bit more. It is about positioning the runway half way up the strut in a highwing or at the wingtip in a low-wing, when on down-wind, Plus other tips. See article below. Cheers.

2 Likes
5

Further to my post above, when you learn to fly IRL your instructor at your airfield will likely point out landmarks all around the circuit/pattern for you to aim at, turn at etc. This gets into your muscle memory so you can do similar landmark identification at other airfields. Cheers.

1 Like
6

Thank you!

1 Like
7

If the runway isn’t aligned with local roads or landmarks, you can use your heading indicator to establish a rough parallel (reciprocal) heading.

Something you want to keep in mind, though, is wind. Lack of wind correction can leave you too close or too far from the runway when it’s time to turn base and final, depending on which way the wind is blowing.

Let’s say you are doing left traffic (all left-hand turns) and while on downwind the wind is from your right. If you do not correct and just fly a reciprocal heading, you will end up narrowing the pattern into a very short base leg. Further, when you turn base, the wind is now on your tail, and it will likely push you through final, causing you to overshoot, and over correct into a skidding, cross-controlled situation where you might stall and spin. This is a common cause of real-world accidents and one of the most dangerous situations in aviation.

If this will be the case, or you’re running into a lot of overshoots, use proper wind correction and/or widen out your pattern. Remember that the extra wind correction means you have may have more or fewer degrees to turn, depending on which leg and where the wind is. This technique also works for aircraft with faster approach speeds, but keep in mind any other traffic in the pattern.

Another situation - normally you’d start a base turn when the runway is about 45° behind your wing, however if the wind is strong down the runway, you’ll get pushed farther away during your base, so in this case, you might start your base a little earlier.

There is a ground reference maneuver you can practice called rectangular patterns (YouTube or Google it). It sounds simple, but the objective is to fly a rectangular course over the ground using the various wind corrections on each leg. Master this and traffic patterns are a piece of cake.

Also, I cannot recommend enough the use of head or eye tracking hardware (like Track IR). This will give you a semblance of the depth perception and spatial awareness you’d have (and need) to do this in the real world.

8

Flying a pattern would be a lot easier with a Track IR, VR or a Tobi !! – but we all cannot justify such expensive hardware, so the answer is – More Practice !!

9

Reverb G2 is under $500 dollars and goes on sale for as low as $300 on occasion. If you do go VR which I suggest, you won’t be able to go back. 2d flat panels look archaic after you’re sitting in a real cockpit in full 3d. It’s very much worth the cost and does help immerse you in the simulation. Especially compared to a home built cockpit. Not even same ballpark.

Only thing really missing is gravity. Flying patterns feels very much like real world. Again, minus the gravity/inertia

1 Like
10

Thank you guys! I have a TrackIR and honestly couldn‘t imagine flying without it!

1 Like