PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Overhead Joins - who has priority?
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Old 9th Aug 2009, 21:45
  #9 (permalink)  
ExSp33db1rd
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: The Smaller Antipode
Age: 89
Posts: 31
Received 21 Likes on 13 Posts
Proper use of radio - at a s l o w delivery rate - should take care of most situations, tho' we still have NORDO airfields, and the recommendation is to make left hand turns above the circuit height until the landing direction can be decided, and this leads to interesting situations at right hand circuits, when some aircraft have listened out and are aware of the traffic direction, others haven't - or can't !

I was once letting down on the 'dead' side and narrowly missed an aircraft coming towards me, i.e. carrying out a rt.hand circuit at a left hand airfield. On the ground, and trying to be polite to a foreign ( USA ) visitor, I explained the expectation I had formed as I was joining. She said that she thought we had a left hand circuit, but heard another aircraft joining Right Base, so thought we had changed the direction, and she had missed the written instruction somewhere? We have no ATC. but we are Mandatory Broadcast,

The " other" aircraft was our local scenic tour operator, who repeatedly rejoins in the most cost effective way - to him, i.e. shortest track distance, be it upwind, downwind, cross wind or straight in.
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