Simviation Forum - Circuit references

Sep 8^th, 2011 at 8:25am

Mazza Offline
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Melbourne, Australia.

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Evening all!
Whilst learning circuits today at the airfield, I was told a lot of local ground references to use whilst in the circuits, some of the quite odd!

For instances, for the crosswind leg, it's 'Fly the damned thing toward the point of the island, like you're gonna 'trim it' down!'
The downwind.. 'Fly it at the town, like you're gonna crash it there...'

Base turn....That green shed down there (There are a lot of sheds!)

Holding base, at that bright green paddock! (Again, farmland, LOTS of paddocks!)

On final, 'don't aim for that boat!' (There is a marooned boat of the side off to the side of the RWY! Cheesy

(All these just for RWY 22 Shocked

)

Anyways, have any of you guys got some funny circuit references? Grin

Sunset Chasing...RULES

AMD 9550 2.43 X4 - 2Gb RAM 800Mhz DDRII - Asus 4670
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Reply #1 - Sep 8^th, 2011 at 9:50am

machineman9 Offline
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Nantwich, England

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As part of an air experience flight, I was told to aim it at the petrol station Grin

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Reply #2 - Sep 8^th, 2011 at 12:43pm

Sir Puma Offline
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When I was a young'n and flew with my friend, everything was done that way. Cross Runway landings were just that, literally across the runway side to side. The airport only had one runway then and we would get some nasty crosswinds. Other landmarks were Jess Ranch (a locally known ranch with private airstrip). Thousands of miles of barren desert and I'm supposed to figure out what patch of clear ground is a ranch. Bell Mountain was easy to spot. It looked like a bell and had radio antenna on it.

"Guard well the words you use, for they can be the keys to your freedom or the manacles of your slavery." - me

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Reply #3 - Sep 8^th, 2011 at 1:31pm

Bud Greene Offline
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I have no flying experience, however once when going to install a 'For Sale' sign for a realtor I was instructed to "go to where the lady is walking her dog". I felt it necessary to ask if the lady would be there when I arrive in the neighborhood two hours later.

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Reply #4 - Sep 8^th, 2011 at 1:59pm

C Offline
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Earth

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Tree, church, bush. Not very exciting!

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Reply #5 - Sep 8^th, 2011 at 2:18pm

littlebenny Offline
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See those cumuli ? A perfect
day for soaring !
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follow that husky ( towplane) until you think you should turn to base and yet i turned too quick Embarrassed

just a pair of long wings and some rising air.

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Reply #6 - Sep 8^th, 2011 at 3:39pm

DaveSims Offline
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Clear Lake, Iowa

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My story is a little different, but funny nonetheless.

My first lesson, we taxied to the end of Runway 5 (small quiet GA airport, no taxiway). Once lined up at the end, the instructor suddenly tells me to kill the engine, so I do. He then unbuckles and gets out of the plane. Mind you we are sitting on the end of the runway still.

Once he gets out, he goes back and pushed the tail of our Cessna 150 down until the plane is about at the attitude needed for a landing flare and tells me, "See where the fire station at the other end is in the window, thats where it needs to be." Then he pushes the tail until it hits the ground and yells," Don't put it there!"

Dave

www.flymcw.com

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Reply #7 - Sep 8^th, 2011 at 5:04pm

1olehippy Offline
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Beautiful Colorado

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I learned at Dallas-Garland airport (which is no longer there). We took off over Jim Alee Olds then turn left toward the railroad tracks. When we were over the tracks, we turned downwind toward, and over, a twin drive-in theater (4 acres of asphalt is a glider pilots dream), turn base over a corn field, hold on tight while we lost the thermal from the drive-in, turn final over the LBJ freeway and make a well executed crosswind landing Wink

because our main runway was closed because people kept hitting the high tension lines at the end of the runway. Sad

After learning that way, I never had a problem landing at a [normal] airport. Cheesy

Dave

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Reply #8 - Sep 8^th, 2011 at 5:43pm

Mictheslik Offline
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Bristol, England

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The usual.....towns (Runcorn specifically), Water tower, petrochemical work.

My favourite is what to watch when flaring on 27 at Liverpool. There's a massive white pub on the other side of the river that makes a rather good stationary reference

.mic

[center]

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Reply #9 - Sep 8^th, 2011 at 6:39pm

beaky Offline
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Newark, NJ USA

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DaveSims wrote on Sep 8^th, 2011 at 3:39pm:

My story is a little different, but funny nonetheless.

My first lesson, we taxied to the end of Runway 5 (small quiet GA airport, no taxiway). Once lined up at the end, the instructor suddenly tells me to kill the engine, so I do. He then unbuckles and gets out of the plane. Mind you we are sitting on the end of the runway still.

Once he gets out, he goes back and pushed the tail of our Cessna 150 down until the plane is about at the attitude needed for a landing flare and tells me, "See where the fire station at the other end is in the window, thats where it needs to be." Then he pushes the tail until it hits the ground and yells," Don't put it there!"

Now that is instructing. Wink

I never had any unusual ones, but it is amazing at first how much it helps to have reference points. I even took the time, when flying out of TEB, to mark precisely where I should make each turn (assuming no wind) on a road map. Worked great about 1% of the time... the rest of the time, Tower had me fly some nonstandard pattern. Grin

And eventually you must learn to enter and fly a clean pattern at a strange airfield, without staring at the runway (or DG or compass) the whole time... those of you who haven't yet "left the nest" should start thinking about that.

It's no big deal, though- as you use your familiar landmarks, note the angles relative to the runway, and where it is in the windows, etc. After a while, even at a strange airport, you can gather all the data you need with a few quick glances, including looking for a turn-to landmark for the next leg.

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Reply #10 - Sep 10^th, 2011 at 7:04pm

Mazza Offline
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Melbourne, Australia.

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DaveSims wrote on Sep 8^th, 2011 at 3:39pm:

My story is a little different, but funny nonetheless.

My first lesson, we taxied to the end of Runway 5 (small quiet GA airport, no taxiway). Once lined up at the end, the instructor suddenly tells me to kill the engine, so I do. He then unbuckles and gets out of the plane. Mind you we are sitting on the end of the runway still.

Once he gets out, he goes back and pushed the tail of our Cessna 150 down until the plane is about at the attitude needed for a landing flare and tells me, "See where the fire station at the other end is in the window, thats where it needs to be." Then he pushes the tail until it hits the ground and yells," Don't put it there!"

Thats very different teaching! Grin

Sunset Chasing...RULES

AMD 9550 2.43 X4 - 2Gb RAM 800Mhz DDRII - Asus 4670
Corsair TX-750W

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Reply #11 - Sep 10^th, 2011 at 7:46pm

expat Offline
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Deep behind enemy lines!

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All well and good learning fixed reference points for a circuit, but how does that translate to landing a different field for the first time??

Matt

PETA People Eating Tasty Animals.

B1 Boeing 737-800 and Dash8 Q-400

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Reply #12 - Sep 10^th, 2011 at 8:12pm

Mazza Offline
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Melbourne, Australia.

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expat wrote on Sep 10^th, 2011 at 7:46pm:

All well and good learning fixed reference points for a circuit, but how does that translate to landing a different field for the first time??

Matt

It's really only for the local airfield, mem I just cheat and use headings occasionally. So, if I took off from RWY 22, I know the other end is RWY 04, so for downwind I would fly an 040 heading. Just requires simple math Tongue

Sunset Chasing...RULES

AMD 9550 2.43 X4 - 2Gb RAM 800Mhz DDRII - Asus 4670
Corsair TX-750W

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