VOR Circle to Land at KSBP (San Luis Obispo Regional, CA)
Hello guys,
I am a PP student planning to get CP/ ATPL, so I practice a lot IFR on simulators, and I came across an approach in KSBP airport which brought me some doubts while reading the chart.
My questions are regarding the direction of the circle to land, as it is not specified in the chart (maybe because there’s a general circle-to-land rule that I am still not aware of).
The traffic pattern (as depicted in image C) in KSBP is left-hand, so my first assumption was that, from MARND (minimums point), one should make a right turn to intercept the left downwind leg for runway 29, or cross the runway and make a left turn to intercept the runway 11 left downwind leg. But then I realized that MARND is too close to the runway, not giving us enough space and time to enter the left downwind leg for runway 29. This assumption is illustrated in the image B.
so my second guess would be the one depicted in the image A, where we would cross anyway the runway for both of the runways and make a left turn for runway 11 or a right turn to runway 29. But that would mean that we would be breaking the traffic pattern rule for runway 29, as we would be making a right hand instead of left hand pattern approach. But to be honest this is the one that makes more sense to me, as the decision point is pretty much above the runway. Maybe because it’s an IFR approach, the traffic pattern doesn’t matter (?).
So, questions:
1. What should be the circle to land approach to be used in KSBP, image A or B?
2. In the chart there is a statement saying "circle-to-land not authorized North of runway 11-29". This confuses me a bit, because when you make a circle to land for runway 11, you’ll be flying North of the runway anyway. Does this statement means that North in this context is farther north (close to the mountains)?
I really appreciate your inputs. Thank you for your time.
UPDATE: Unfortunately I am new in the Forum and they don't allow me to add the images. I hope you will understand the questions anyway...