Hi there,

I have some questions regarding Traffic Patterns
and Airspaces.

1. If you want to enter a Traffic pattern, do you always have to enter at the middle of
of the downwind leg (think it´s described like that in the "learning center" but I don´t really understand the formulation')
or can you enter
at the nearest point like... the base leg if this would be the nearest entry point ?

2. Regarding the alltitude. Normally it´s 1000ft
above groundlevel. But the controller can give me another
alltitude if there are more aircraft in the pattern. Is this correct ?

3. If you look at ETHA (fs9) and you click in the map on the boundary you will see that there are two boundaries
in the same place. The first says floor/ceiling 0/4000 and the second one 0/10000. Is this a bug or why are there
two different boundaries ?

4. When you look on your map (fs9) north of EDDM
There are a lot of airspaces that are labeled "restricted"
but are no class-B airspaces. For example "Siegenburg"
restricted area 0-12000 ft. When I´m VFR does it mean
I may not enter this airspaces.. or am I just forced to
contact a controller. (A center I suppose) ?

Thank You !!

You always, ALWAYS want everybody that's in the pattern to be at the same altitude.  Always.

We have another additional way of entering the circuit at uncontrolled airports here in Canada: the mid-field crosswind.  Basically, from the upwind side you can fly midway over the field at circuit alt, turn onto downwind and finish the rest of the circuit  .

Thank You people !! This is really helpfull information
for me.
You guys are real pro´s !!

Regarding the different altitude in traffic patterns. I think I red something about it in the FS "learning center"
Maybe I missunderstood something. I will see if can
find it.

OK I think I understand now how a traffic pattern is flown.
Maybe I will post some screenshots of the flightsim map
in this thread.. so you can tell me if I did it how it should
have been done.

I´m asking for this cause of two reasons. 1. I want to make my flightsim more realistic. 2. I want to join vatsim. After listening to their ATC now several times, I think I still have to learn a lot before I seriously can join.

I think the next thing to learn will be "holding patterns".
Expect some more questions !

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I know that you mean well but the BOSS_BA is correct. Read any AF/D, 1,500'agl is standard for turbine powered aircraft at most fields with a CTAF.

Standard rule-of-thumb for nontowered airports:
Enter the downwind at a 45-degree angle to your downwind leg heading (not necessarily midfield but it's best to do that), at the TPA (very very important!!) when you enter. In RL, the TPAs vary, but the 1000AGL/1500AGL rules should do the trick in FS. You can find the airport elevation (above mean sea level) in the info box for the airport in the Map page; just add 1000 or 1500 to that number to determine your TPA for that field.
Most uncontrolled fields use a left-hand pattern; there are some that don't in RL, but no way to tell in FS, except for the obvious stuff like mountains close to the runway on one side, etc.
And yeah, like Boss said, if you're going to come straight-in or some other nonstandard entry or approach, you need to announce it (and keep your eyes peeled!)... but of course this won't work in FS9. It's always safest to fly a standard pattern, and it's good practice for making precise heading changes, etc.
If the tower is conrolling you, all bets are off, except for the TPA (unless they say otherwise). They'll usually tell you to make left turns or right turns, unless they clear you for a straight-in
approach.
As far as the boundary thing goes: I had a different answer, then I looked at the map of that airport. Looks like a bug, or perhaps a small portion of that box goes up to 10,000 but they forgot to add the line. Only way to know for sure is to look at a RL chart of that area.
"Prohibited" airspace means: "Stay the hell out!"Examples: the airspace around Camp David, the White House, etc.
"Restricted" means: "You'd better have a good reason!" Example: the helicopter training area near West Point, south of SWF.
   I think in RL there are ways to get permission to enter restricted areas, but I avoid them like the plague- same with Alert, Warning, and MOAs... not worth the risk even with clearance to enter, IMHO... accidents can and do happen in those areas, esp. when you have pilots training in high-speed low-level IFR operations in military aircraft!! Flying a small piston plane in  RL, by the time you see that kind of traffic, it'll probably be the very last thing you see...
In some areas this can mean a long detour, though. The Gulf Coast of the US, for example... it's like one enormous MOA. There are lots of small airports down there, though- the local pilots must have to make quite a few phone calls before going on a trip.
But  I think in FS9 you just request clearance from the controller as you would for any kind of controlled airspace.

No, you wouldn't want that hassle, from what I hear. Besides, improper pattern procedure is a great way to meet people- by accident...
I was once landing at a small field in Pennsylvania; did everything by the numbers, listening and talking on the CTAF, and some dumbass who wasn't talking on the radio tried to land on the same runway, going the other way, at nearly the same moment. The wind was light and variable, so technically he wasn't landing downwind, but still...
  I didn't see him because he came straight in, and by the time he crossed the threshold, I was already below 100 feet and looking only at the far end of the runway. To make things worse, he didn't go around- he just zoomed over me as I was rolling out and landed just beyond...  quite long, too.  My impression was that he saw my plane the whole time... he was assuming a great deal... if I'd panicked and tried to go around from below him, things might've gotten very dicey.
It was a dual training flight, and we were just making the one landing there, so I didn't take the time to stop and go over to where this "Sky King" was parked to introduce myself (with my fist!). I really wanted to, though- and my CFI was even more angry!
My lesson: expect the unexpected, and be looking for it. Most midairs occur on perfect VFR days, near small airports.
His lesson: If you won't or can't use the radio, at least follow the standard procedures, or  be ready to yield to those who do.

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Ah, but that's one dingbat compared to dozens of pilots who were  courteous, conscientious,friendly,  and into flying for the sheer joy of it. And when you do start flying professionally, you will discover some reckless pilots with real attitude, I'll bet...
Not to mention some cantankerous, inflexible controllers (or do they only hate us little guys?).

May I ask a question?

How far from the runway is the traffic pattern, for the base leg and downd legs, for non ILS or vor approches? If I'm to close then I miss the final, if I'm to far I have to come back to center finals. I flown only sim for years. The only time I come in on centering final is on ILS or  when I use the standard turn rates off downwinds, of I think three minutes.
Any helps here also?

Quote:


Not sure if this is the info you want, but for light aircraft flying VFR in the pattern at an uncontrolled field, the usual thing is about 1/2 mile from the centerline on downwind. Depending on obstructions , the turn to final usually starts anywhere from 1/2 mile to a mile from the threshold. In faster planes at the higher TPA, I guess it'd be a mile to two miles when parallel to the runway. The general idea is to be within gliding distance of the runway at that altitude... wouldn't be a pretty landing if you had to turn around midfield to try to dump it on the runway in an emergency, but it'd be better than not being close enough to at least get onto the airport property.

Thanks Rottydady and other pilots,

You information was very helpful!!!

But do you find that formilarity with Your airports and its surronding things, like tree, buildings and markers helps line things up on the pattern legs in VFR?

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Yes. It helps an awful lot if you have features on the ground to aid you (to track towards on the downwind leg, or a feature used to turn onto the base leg and finals etc*) as it can free up spare capacity for you to think about other things (downwind checks, other aircraft in the circuit, wind effects etc)...

*trying to think civilian circuits! - the last on I did of those must have been 2002! Military circuits are oval/racetrack shapes, with a continuous finals turn from downwind to the final approach...