Maybe in the UK everything is different again, but in my part of the world, you need to be inside a control zone orn an ATZ in order to be protected from other traffic while doing your traffic patterns
OK first off, it's the UK. The airfield had an ATZ a while ago, but is now unlicenced (since not long after training was allowed) and no longer has one. There are strict rules about overflying a certain area very close to the downwind leg, which apparently carry legal consequences but it's only marked on the map as a restriction for helis. Other than that, if you were unfamiliar with the field and hadn't looked in Pooley's, you wouldn't know you shouldn't fly over it.
What if it's an airfield like (for example) Bembridge where it is not actually "closed" but is unmanned on certain days, so there is no signals square. Circuits only allowed on one side of the aerodrome so circuit direction reverses according to the wind direction which you gauge from the windsock, and make blind calls. If it's nill wind, and you're non radio, you could be caught out by someone who happened to have chosen the opposing runway.
That's pretty much what it was like, they've never had a signals square and the A/G was manned on this occasion as I was talking to them. I was initially asked if I'd gotten the reg over the radio as I took avoiding action. Circuits are only allowed on one side.
OP, might the cub you saw have been non-radio and simply joined the circuit, happening to choose the opposing runway to you for whatever reason (you mentioned it was nill wind), and then decided to abort the landing? Maybe it wasn't obvious which runway was in use?
He could have been non-radio, everyone seems to be assuming cub = non-radio but I'm not sure it was a cub, just that it was high wing and yellow. I don't know if he was having a look at the field but it also looked as though he flew over the area he shouldn't have, so wasn't bang on the downwind. You'd think that if he intended to land, he'd have prepared and telephoned prior to arrival (Regardless of whether PPR or not) for advice and realised not to fly over the said area.
I'm pretty sure the intention wasn't to land, as he never turned base, he just flew on his path.
If there was "hardly anyone about and zero wind with the sun very awkward on the runway in use" maybe the Cub (or whatever it was) pilot had the wit to use a runway that wasn't "very awkward with the sun". Why do so many UK pilot follow each other around like sheep, instead of thinking?
I'm 90% sure that he wasn't aware he was in our circuit, though I could be wrong.
As for my own decision, I landed into the sun as the A/G guy told me it was favourable with the (very little) wind. We also discussed using the other and I elected not to as I was confident that I could make the landing without any drama. It's a pretty standard practice at our field. If you can, do it. As I said before, circuits are only allowed on one side so when the circuit's busy you don't want to go landing on whichever runway you please. It was quiet on this occasion but it's a habit we get into. If you want to use the other runway and it's busy it's best to stay out of the circuit either until it quietens down or the A/G operator gets a few comments along the same lines and elects to change his recommendation.
Shame that scenario didn't occur to the 16,000-hour pilot, who was so keen to file a complaint.
I got the impression he was pretty certain the pilot's intention wasn't to land, as was I. It was a straight, unaltered track from one horizon to the other.
Although your experience pilot friend said he was going to report him, he may in fact have meant as an airprox.
Good point, he could well have, but with his tone on the radio I'm not sure. I personally wouldn't say it's something that's likely to happen any more regularly than at any other unlicenced airfield, so don't see the point in filing an airprox if it won't do any good. I'm not really highlighting a new 'flaw in the system' if you know what I mean.
Hi, Could it have been that the Cub was not trying for a Landing, but had just
Taken Off from the out of sun runway, and was just setting course for a cross country to another airfield?
Good question, but he hadn't just taken off as the '16k pilot' had been there all day on the A/G and would have known the reg.
I think that you were Very lucky.
A year ago we lost a good friend to a mid air within the circuit.
We were a long way off, but if his visibility was reduced due to haze and I hadn't seen him, it could have been messy.
Anyway, back to the original question. Assuming he meant ringing the CAA or the nearest tower to find him or something, isn't that a bit harsh? What would you do?