Standard overhead joins

[Daz7]

Hello boys and girls.

Have been reading the forum for about a month. Decided I might as well ask a question.

Having got my PPL in Florida where downwind joins at circuit height are favoured, I was wondering what the procedure is if you approach the airfield from the deadside in the UK. Can you join at circuit height or are you supposed to overfly the field at 2000 ft ?

[foghorn]

Hi there,

It really depends where you are. The UK standard is an overhead join at 2000' AAL followed by a deadside descent to circuit height and crosswind join no matter which direction you approach the field from.

However 'Local procedures' are common in the UK. Usually there are good reasons - airspace congestion, instrument holds/departures passing through the overhead at 2000', gliders/helicopter circuits on the dead side/noise abatement etc.

This means that you'll often find airfields with circuit height joins to either deadside, downwind, base leg or even straight in. However you will find few (if any) places that do a US-style 45 degree midfield circuit height join or a European-style 90 degree midfield circuit height join.

The usual rule for unfamiliar airfields is to read Pooleys carefully and give them a telephone call to find out the joining procedures. That's why so many airfields are officially PPR - basically just to get you to call them to find out the local procedures.

Cheers!
foggy.

[Chilli Monster]

Circuit height joins are really a no-no unless 1) local instructions dictate otherwise or 2) ATC (if present ) instruct you otherwise.

However, for the vast majority of uncontrolled fields (and I include FISO units amongst these) again - unless your Bottlang / Poooleys / VFR guide says otherwise the following should apply.

Overhead at 2000' (top of the ATZ effectively). Check for other traffic, descend deadside.

Cross the upwind numbers at circuit height, turn downwind when in the correct position.

Easy :)

CM

[Noggin]

The purpose of the overhead join is to allow you to observe the airfield below and the signals square, it originates from non radio days. It is important that you cross the landing threshold before descending on the deadside, ideally cross the runway at 90 degrees and close the throttle fully, maintain your cruise speed to give you a reasonably high rate of descent, good visibility, and manoeuverability to avoid others, staying close to the runway so that you are visible to other traffic. Cross the upwind threshold at 90 degrees over the numbers, at circuit height, so that you have a good lookout into the circuit. This will keep you clear of departing traffic then fit into the downwind patern.

If you are familiar with the airfield you can join on the deadside descending but, if its a new procedure to you, start by flying onto the live side first and have a good look below before descending.

Remember some airfields do not have a useable Deadside, it may be used by gliders or helicopters.

[FlyingForFun]

Agree with all the comments made so far.

But, to go off on a slight tangent:

When I was in the States, I was discussing overhead joins with some American friends. They saw the advantages of the overhead join, but pointed out that it adds a few minutes to the time it takes to join, as compared to the 45-degree entry they use. But I think, overall, we agreed that the overhead join was better - it gives you a chance to check out the airfield if you're unfamiliar with it, and, most important, have a good lookout for traffic.

Then they asked an interesting question: "How does the overhead join work if you have parallel runways? There'd be traffic flying patterns (circuits) on both sides of the field." Gulp! The idea of parallel runways at a GA field, let alone an uncontrolled field, had never occured to me before I started flying in the USA - but it's quite common over there. The field I was based at had parallel runways (ATC during the day, but uncontrolled after 9pm) with circuits on both sides of the field. 5 miles away was another GA field, with 3 parallel runways. And I also flew into a completely uncontrolled airfield with parallel runways once.

Is this a key factor in why they don't do overhead joins there, I wonder?

Discuss..... :D

FFF
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[Genghis the Engineer]

I think those above are in slight error, I believe that a "standard" overhead join is at 1000ft above circuit height, it just happens that that is usually 2000 ft, but not always. You also can legitimately make an overhead join in the USA, it's just not the preferred option.

Always watch out for local procedures, such as join at 1300 ft (White Waltham) and one or two places where the lack of deadside requires a downwind descent.

One thing that often gets forgotten also in these days of radio is that airfields have signal squares. An overhead join if you are non-radio for whatever reason, gives you a chance to look at the signal square and get runway in use, circuit direction, etc. etc. I did a non-radio OHJ at Old Sarum a while ago with an ATPL friend who had to admit that he couldn't remember what any of the signals mean - I suppose that they don't get used much at LHR!

G

[niknak]

The simple thing to do is: find out before you set off.

A considerable number of airfields/airports do not permit overhead joins and expect you to join (as already stated) to join either straight in or downwind/base leg. If you were to try and join overhead at my based airport, the chances are, you'd meet something large, fast and bristling with pop guns, going the other way. Each airport has it's own reasons.

Joining overhead is a time consuming procedure which also restricts the climb rate of departing aircraft, and I.M.H.O, I would encourage any pilot to be prepared to join in as direct a manner as possible, as dirested by ATC or the airfield operator.

[Genghis the Engineer]

Thus, I suspect, speaks somebody who rarely flies into non-radio grass strips.

Horses for courses, and as Niknak says, never set out without knowing the local procedures and preferences.

G

[AerBabe]

FFF, at Wycombe Air Park the powered a/c and gliders fly opposite circuits on the same runway. The joining procedure on the day I went was to fly down the length of the runway at 1200ft AAL and descend on the crosswind leg to circuit height. Unfortunately this was a little tricky as they'd mistakenly given me the QNH instead of the QFE... anyway, to cut a long story short...

Just have to keep your eyes open!

(and wear plastic underwear) :D

[FlyingForFun]

Agree - always check the local procedures first.

I flew into Andrewsfield last year. I've only been there once, so I may have the details slightly wrong, but for those who don't know it, it has two parallel grass runways. Only one will be in use at any one time, and all circuits are to the north. Can't remember the runway numbers, but let's say 09/27 for the sake of argument. All the procedures (including the circuit directions) are clearly written up in Pooleys, etc.

On the day I was there, runway 27L was in use. The response from the A/G guys when asked for joining information was along the lines of "QFE xxxx, runway 27 left, right-hand circuit."

I was shocked to hear another guy on the radio who'd misheard the radio call, and thought it was a left-hand circuit. Mis-hearing the radio call I can understand. But there is no excuse for not knowing, before you leave, what the circuit direction is!

I was even more shocked to discover, afterwards, that the pilot was actually the guy who I was meeting there - although this did, at least, give me a chance to talk to him and find out how he managed to misunderstand the circuit direction. He said he mis-heard the radio call and thought it was a left-hand circuit. He only realised his mistake when he was about to join crosswind, and found other traffic coming straight towards him. He initially assumed that the other traffic was departing to the north, and had illegally turned against the circuit direction, and only realised it was his mistake when he heard the other traffic calling downwind.

And the same goes for all other local procedures. At White Waltham, for example, the 1300' join is there for a very good reason - half of the ATZ is Class A, and there's a special exemption to the normal Class A requirements for traffic departing, joining or flying in the circuit - but only up to 1500'. If you try to join overhead at 2000', you're gonna make the guys at Heathrow very unhappy!

The "overhead join" where you overfly the runway, which AerBabe mentions, is in force in several places. I believe it's an option at Thruxton, for example. I have to admit, I can't see the point of it, and here's why:

The three main benefits of the overhead join are: 1) look for other traffic, 2) familiarise yourself with the airfield if it's not somewhere you fly regularly, 3) look at the signal square.

Looking for other traffic is great - let's funnel all the traffic directly overhead the runway, all at exactly the same height, and then let everyone look for everyone else! At least if you join downwind, different pilots/aircraft will quite possibly fly the downwind leg in different places. Not quite as good as a normal overhead join, where everyone will fly a slightly different track until they've had plenty of time to look for traffic, and there's more than enough time to slot in with other traffic - but the overhead-the-runway join doesn't give you any chance to see traffic at all before you're on the same track as it is.

Familiarisation with the airfield is also not easy with this type of join - you've got to identify the runway, and figure out the landing direction, before you can overfly the runway - and by the time you've done this, there's not much more familiarisation that can be done.

And looking at the signal square - if you haven't figured out which direction to land in yet, how do you know which direction to overfly the runway in? If possible (and sometimes it isn't) I'd think it would be better to fly overhead at, say, 3000' to look at the signal square if I'm non-radio, so that I can join in the correct direction. If that's not possible, I'm not sure - I guess you'd have to get a telephone briefing to find out the runway in use, and then, until you can actually see the signal square and confirm this, be very alert for oncoming traffic in the opposite direction.

So none of the benefits of the regular overhead join seem to apply for the overhead-the-runway join. Maybe someone who's based at a field that uses this procedure would like to comment?


The main thing to come out of this, though, is always check the local procedures!

FFF
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[FNG]

Unless procedures at Andrewsfield have changed very recently, all circuits are right hand: so one is north, the other south (the runways being east-west). You still join overhead in the standard way.

[FlyingForFun]

Thanks for the correction, FNG - I couldn't remember. Was definitely a RH circuit when landing to the west - and it was definitely clear from the entry in Pooleys.

FFF
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[foghorn]

Genghis,

Thanks for the correction - an overhead join at 2000ft AAL is of course, 'standard' because the standard circuit height is 1000ft AAL. The overhead join is, as you say, more correctly 1000ft above the circuit height.

cheers!
foggy.

[Negative Charlie]

Just a small addendum to AerBabe's note about Wycombe Air Park: gliders and powered aircraft do indeed fly opposite circuit directions, but on parallel runways. The gliders normally use the (invisible from the air unless you know it's there) grass strip, and powered aircraft the hard runway. It's still interesting, especially as most of the gliders are non-radio, but not quite as exciting as sharing the same runway would be.

[Tigerformation]

Just thought i'd have my say on this matter,


It depends largly on the scale of the airport and the traffic volume at the time of arrival. If there is room to get you in the ATC/FISO will get you to join downwind. If it is busy they will get you to join overhead generally at 2000ft. This is all dependant on the opposing traffic i.e. helicopters.

Hope this fills a hole.

[RotorHorn]

Just one question - what's a circuit? This is why I joined the fling wing brigade. Hop in over the hedge, land where there's a space. :D

On a serious note, the points about being extra vigilant on a deadside descent is very valid.

At Blackpool, when we do have to fly circuits(for training purposes), they are on the deadside of the active.

I've had a couple of rectum clenching moments when after climbing out and turning downwind (deadside), I've met a plank-flyer descending from the overhead towards me to join cross-wind at the end of the active runway behind me. :eek: :eek:

I suppose that's why they put the 'V' in 'VFR'... :)

[what cessna?]

Daz7
Simple answer!

1) In the UK the standard overhead join is 2000 feet QFE.

2) If ATC give an overhead join but not using the word 'standard' then it isn't at 2000 feet - if unsure check!

3) As said by many above, sirspace and/or other local restrictions does hamper flying in certain areas ar some airfields. Check the UK AIP, Pooleys etc to find details.

4) IF really unsure speak to the airfield you are flying to by phone before you depart your home airfield.

Be aware! Some airfields do not permit overhead joins at all!