Overhead Joins

[robin]

Robin & Mixed Up

A question: Why are Brits more interested in exactly following the letter of the law, rather than achieving the intention of regulations?

Could this be one of the reasons we have more trouble with EU regs than other nations.

I'm confused by this comment. All I do is point out that there are airfields where they ask for OHJs. There are others who absolutely ban them, for good reasons. As part of pre-flight preparation you should always be aware of the local requirements. Given the NIMBYs around most airfields these days it is getting more important to follow the local rules so you don't drop the airfield operator into the filth.

At Gloucester and Goodwood, if they tell you to join overhead, then you are supposed to obey that instruction - at Gloucester they do have air traffic control, although, they may be open to negotiation.

Similarly, try going into Popham on a big event day and join for a base-leg join. Yes, you can do it but you will really p*ss off a lot of people. I've seen pilots held up against a wall by the throat at one event at another airfield by someone flying the notified circuit who was baulked by someone nipping in on an 'efficient' join.

Personally I try to negotiate for the most effective join, as an OHJ would normally involve me in climbing above my preferred cruise altitude. But if the OHJ is required, then that is what I do.

[vee-tail-1]

[robin]

[BackPacker]

what other calls would I make?

I'd say you need to make a call to an instructor (or a very experienced pilot) to schedule a bit of x-country flying with him/her.

Flying in Florida is different from flying in the UK and it will not hurt to do a few flights with an instructor before you go off on your own. And not just as a club checkout, but specifically all those things that the US does not have. OHJ, landing on grass, MATZ penetration, flight levels, talking to AFIS or A/G, you name it.

Been there, done that.

[jxk]

Joining on the 45 for 'nina' - going to point 5. What?

[Crash one]

"Decending dead side" "Crosswind" "Downwind" "Final" "Backtracking/Vacated at X"

Edit: otherwise go with Backpacker.

[Piper.Classique]

I would also expect aircraft in the cct to give the required info to approaching aircraft. This is SOP in France, but may be a bit new to Brits.

Actually, it isn't. We make circuit calls, but 123.5 is not used to talk between aircraft. At least not officially, anyway. All flying below 3000 outside controlled airspace is normally on QNH and we look at the windsock. I fly at a small airfield, uncontrolled. The no wind situation is dealt with by having a preferential runway used in winds of less than 2 metres/second. Circuit direction at our field is left hand on one runway, right hand on the reciprocal. All airfield charts are free download so no excuse for getting it wrong.
And calls in french, of course, unless at a controlled field, where you can choose english or french.

[172driver]

... more likely 'decimal 7'

[jxk]

172 driver - NO in the US they use point not decimal and hence my initial confusion and okay not point 5 but certainly point 6. Also found things like 29.98 strange at first after hearing millibars (hecto thingys) most of flying time.

[172driver]

Not worth an argument - but it most certainly used to be 'decimal' in the US a few years ago, although I've heard both.

[Slipstream86]

I'd say you need to make a call to an instructor (or a very experienced pilot) to schedule a bit of x-country flying with him/her.

Flying in Florida is different from flying in the UK and it will not hurt to do a few flights with an instructor before you go off on your own. And not just as a club checkout, but specifically all those things that the US does not have. OHJ, landing on grass, MATZ penetration, flight levels, talking to AFIS or A/G, you name it.

Been there, done that.

I envy your experience backpacker... I have only limited X-country experience in the UK.

Perhaps you are right, although....Grass landings aside, I feel confident I could more than cope with the RT differences without relying on an instructor now.

Its just the RT section of my air law textbook seems to be missing the required calls specifically for an overhead join which is why I asked the question.

[BackPacker]

I envy your experience backpacker... I have only limited X-country experience in the UK.

Well thanks for the compliment but to be honest... I now have my license a little over two years, with just a little over 100 hours PIC. Just last weekend I did my largest x-country ever, way larger than anything I had done before... Rotterdam to Berlin Tempelhof and back. Total flying time eight hours over one weekend. There's plenty people here who have far more experience than me, and for whom such a flight is a walk in the park. It wasn't for me: I must have spent at least double that amount of time preparing.

But yes, when I returned from Florida I flew two flights with an instructor (one local, one x-country), then one or two solo flights duplicating what I did with that instructor, before I ventured out further and with passengers. And I still fly regularly with other pilots to learn from them, and they from me. It's all got to do with filling your bag with experience before running out of the bottle of luck, or whatever the proverb is.

So take it slow, build your experience gradually and prepare the flights outside your comfort zone and area religiously. Don't get sucked into stressful situations because of get-there-itis, i-should-be-able-to-handle-this-by-now-itis, others-can-do-it-so-why-can't-i-itis or anything like that. But most of all, have fun.

[Slipstream86]

Well thanks for the compliment but to be honest... I now have my license a little over two years, with just a little over 100 hours PIC. Just last weekend I did my largest x-country ever, way larger than anything I had done before... Rotterdam to Berlin Tempelhof and back. Total flying time eight hours over one weekend. There's plenty people here who have far more experience than me, and for whom such a flight is a walk in the park. It wasn't for me: I must have spent at least double that amount of time preparing.

But yes, when I returned from Florida I flew two flights with an instructor (one local, one x-country), then one or two solo flights duplicating what I did with that instructor, before I ventured out further and with passengers. And I still fly regularly with other pilots to learn from them, and they from me. It's all got to do with filling your bag with experience before running out of the bottle of luck, or whatever the proverb is.

So take it slow, build your experience gradually and prepare the flights outside your comfort zone and area religiously. Don't get sucked into stressful situations because of get-there-itis, i-should-be-able-to-handle-this-by-now-itis, others-can-do-it-so-why-can't-i-itis or anything like that. But most of all, have fun.

Good post....Thanks for the advice mate

[Rabbs]

Many thanks to all who have posted, interesting that for something so critical as aproach we have such a wide range of opinions on this. I have had airfields ask me to do OHJ (Cambridge unexpectedly did on my QXC ) and there are airfields that state OHJ as part of the joining instructions - but then didn't seem fussed when we joined crosswind (I wasn't PIC), which is why I asked the question - I would be interested in an ATC answer to get their view as I think all the answers here are from pilots.

I will keep the excellent piece of advice to hand though - that there is no rush to get into the cct

Now can I have some decent weather at the weekend to fly????