Nobody does this in the real world, right?  At an uncontrolled airport, Let us say I'm coming in from the south to land visual RW 35.  It is good practice to enter the pattern upwind, rather than just announce you are landing straight in, right?
Can I also infer that at a controlled airport they would tell you to enter the pattern and fly a circuit, at least typically, unlike FS where the controller frequently tells you to fly straight in?

It's not unheard-of in RL, but it is not recommended.
Officially, it is not recommended because it does not provide adequate assurance of separation from other aircraft, particularly if two aircraft are both on straight-ins at the same time. 

But the real reason it's discouraged is because although it can be done quite safely, it seems that most pilots who opt for a straight-in announce their intentions on the CTAF as soon as they cancel flight following, about 20 miles out, then don't say another word, even when they come diving across the base leg in the midst of a busy pattern. 

But radios don't keep you safe in VMC; your eyes do... yet while these pilots might be excused for these "stealthy" long straight-ins, they also tend to be so obsessed with the runway that they don't bother to notice everybody in the pattern. I've seen it too many times. 

Having said that, I feel there's a time, place and methodology for the straight-in, as for the crosswind or even base entry. Sometimes these "nonstandard" approaches make more sense than crossing or skirting the field and turning around at pattern altitude right out where "everyone else" is making their 45-degree entry (a recipe for disaster).

You see, the problem with having a "recommended" pattern-entry procedure, is that it does not entirely eliminate the problem: if everybody's doing the same thing, whether they enter on a 45 to downwind, enter on crosswind, or come straight in, there is still a convergence point for traffic entering the pattern. So I will sometimes do it a little different, for safety as well as convenience.

I'll sooner enter on a crosswind than fly straight in, but I don't rule it out completely, as long as I'm willing and able to announce more than once, put myself on the proper glide path at the normal place (not dive in or drag it in over the treetops), and keep a very sharp eye out for traffic.

But once in the pattern, you should fly a standard pattern!!

I knew you'd chime in here, and I knew you'd say this...

Brett_Henderson wrote on Apr 10^th, 2010 at 11:36pm:


I'd forgotten to mention the "minimal time in the pattern" thing; it is an important part of my decision-making process when arriving. 
And of course, the Big Picture includes aircraft near the pattern area, whether arriving or departing; if I hear but don't see someone out there, I'll also make numerous inquiries/reports.

But I am not happy if I don't see them... you can't trust some of these folks, like the Bo driver who called "three miles", no entry intentions specified, then appeared less than a minute later, dropping onto the base leg from above TPA, right in front of me!!       I've gotten more and more in the habit of glancing at the runway only a few times when entering and flying the pattern, looking outside 95% of the time... not the other way around!

Funny thing about that: in FS9, the AI traffic tends to fly wide patterns, and of course they ignore your position reports and can't be interrogated for updates... but at least they tend to fly predictable, courteous entries! 

It's much better to just approach a couple miles on the downwind side, then either enter a 45 or a base. There are several reasons for this, one of the biggest is that unless you are flying at pattern altitude you will miss seeing MOST aircraft in the pattern. If you're above, they blend into the ground, and if you're below, well, you shouldn't be below pattern altitude approaching the airport....

Just because you have and use a radio to announce where you are does not mean that everyone else there has one, uses it, or knows where you mean when you say 5 mile final... what's five mile final? I've seen people say "short final" when they're 15 miles out, and I've seen people say "five mile final" when they're within one runway length (typically 4000' or LESS than a mile)

I don't fly a "pattern" because I want people to know where I am as much as I fly because I want to be sure I know where THEY are.

olderndirt wrote on Jul 1^st, 2010 at 9:11pm:

I think he means "the voice on the radio" in FS, also known as "ATC".