Anyone have an idea why a SeaRay was flying right patterns on KLNA Lantana Florida runway 34 yesterday (July 18) afternoon?
Update: originally wrote rwy 14 - should be 34
It doesn’t look like there is a runway 14?
Chart supplement says helicopters are to fly right traffic for all runways at KLNA. Maybe it was a helicopter and not a SeaRay? How do you know it was a SeaRay? From FlightRadar24? (Like all of us, it happens that FlightRadar24 is confused occasionally)
I found it, runway 34, starts at around 2240z. No idea. Helicopters use right patterns there, but fixed wing should be left traffic to all runways.
Sometimes people don’t know, or they get confused.
The tail number definitely comes back to a SeaRey.
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It’s flown out of LNA a lot during the last several weeks, but has never used runway 34, usually 16, so maybe expectation bias or some other confusion. Who knows.
Actually, what I got wrong was the runway- It was flying right pattern T&Gs on rwy 34.
When I am standing under the climb out, and watching a pugnose flying boat with outboard pontoons on the wings, and making the sound only a Rotax pusher makes, repeatedly climbing out at 300-400 feet above me, then turning right cross , it’s a SeaRey. (Confirmed by looking up the registration from the plane as it repeatedly flew overhead.)
Only thing I can think is they were simulating missed water landings over the lake to the east on the right downwind, and then doing T&Gs on rwy 34. I hope they were announcing real well. Sometimes pilots think they are the only ones around and don’t announce enough.
The patterns didn’t have any interaction with the water, though, so I’m thinking it’s just an error. Hopefully the pilot realized it after the flight and will fix it next time up. We all make mistakes and misinterpreting or misunderstanding the intended pattern direction is by far one of the more common errors.
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The KLNA CTAF recording seems to be available for that time period on LiveATC. Maybe there’s a clue in there?
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I listened to the CTAF for that period, sure enough “SeaRey on right downwind runway 34”, “SeaRey on tight final runway 34 for T&G”.
There was a straight in to runway 10 where both announced on final. The straight in announced “will hold short runway 34”.
A lot has changed in the 25 years since I was flying at Lantana. There was only one active runway at any one time in those days, (and no heli traffic either).
It sure is an interesting airport to watch with 6 runways, multiple flight schools, helicopters, frequently changing weather, and right under the class C airspace. Most of the YouTube instructors I watch seem to fly out of much simpler airports.
I found a proposal from a few years back to put in a tower. But I asked at the FBO and they didn’t think it would ever happen.
My instructor said non-standard pattern entries are common because of the surrounding class C.
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Is it possible they were practicing a right pattern during a slow time of day? Any time I see late day, or night, patterns there it’s usually just one airplane. Still, I’d probably pick PHK to do something like that.
I don’t know how many SeaReys there are but that might be the same one I see frequently flying between LNA and up to the north west of Lake Okeechobee.
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Legally, that’s not a thing. In fact, FAR 91.126 is very clear on this issue:
Ҥ 91.126 Operating on or in the vicinity of an airport in Class G airspace.
(a) General. Unless otherwise authorized or required, each person operating an aircraft on or in the vicinity of an airport in a Class G airspace area must comply with the requirements of this section.
(b) Direction of turns. When approaching to land at an airport without an operating control tower in Class G airspace—
(1) Each pilot of an airplane must make all turns of that airplane to the left unless the airport displays approved light signals or visual markings indicating that turns should be made to the right, in which case the pilot must make all turns to the right; and…”
Bottom line, don’t fly opposite direction patterns. I still think this one was done in error, likely a misunderstanding.
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