cfiaime@ihnp4.UUCP (Jeff Williams) (10/05/84)
Date: 5 Oct 84 08:24:15 CDT (Fri) From: bonnie!lgk Apparently-To: cfiaime Here at MMU, we're lucky to still have the airport in sight when turning base! (Admittedly, this doesn't happen all the time). The new breed of controller (young, inexperienced, no flying backround) has taken to calling the base for the pilots when traffic piles up. More than one pilot has been in the traffic pattern at Hanover (4.5 miles away) when he thought to ask the controller when he could turn base (tower had forgotten him!). The controllers also seem to think that the bizjet fleet all have the priority of Air Force One in that they will frequently resequence traffic on base to follow a corporate jet that has just reported the OM. I have no problem with training traffic yielding to the corporate fleet but it bothers me that the FAA's employees seem to drop all common sense when one comes on the frequency. I usually tell students that it's nice if you can fly the entire pattern close enough to the airport to make a normal landing in the event of an engine failure but it may be difficult to do in practice. I also teach them that if the pattern is full (4 to 6 a/c plus transients) to roll into the downwind and fly it at the normal approach speed thus keeping the pattern from extending to unmanageable distances. This may make following traffic pay attention a little more, but usually will teach them something in the process. And last, I tell students that they should not relinguish their pilot perogatives to a controller on the ground in matters that concern their airplane while it is in the air. Regards, Len Kastner Wh X-2828 bonnie!lgk ps - Although I have been reading the net for the past couple of years, I have yet to attempt posting anything to it. (Being a non-programmer type, maybe I have been intimidated!) Feel free to post the above if you think there is enough general interest. I think the discussions are good and it's interesting to compare teaching techniques.