Does ATC get pissed???

[viper548]

When I was the only one in the pattern, sometimes i'd get "cleared for the option until further notice"

 

[moxiepilot]

I always liked the tower call, " cleared to do whatever you want whichever runway you want for a little while, mmm k?"

 

[pilotmiketx]

Not necessarily

No, you should keep your pie-hole shut unless there is some sort of necessary information that needs to be transmitted. Too many pilots get diarrhea of the mouth. If you don't get any specific instructions on how to fly your pattern, or a sequence (i.e. "extend your downwind to follow a 757, caution wake turbulence" or "keep your speed up as long as practical, traffic to follow is a T-38 on a 3 mile final") then you just fly your pattern (quietly) as you normally would.

If you don't have a landing clearance by the time you're about 1/4 mile out, ask or verify. Always read back the landing clearance and runway.

The exception is if the tower has some local procedure that you should follow. For example, if it is SOP to report midfield or "abeam the numbers", then you should do that. How do I know if this airport has a local procedure? You'll be instructed by the tower, usually on the first trip around the pattern.

The important thing to remember is the microphone in the airplane is for important communications necessary to flight safety. It is not for asking for "Wind checks" or asking "any traffic in the area please advise"...I should quit, I feel a rant coming on...

 

[OneBadLT123]

the airport i usually fly in, we usually call tower 10 miles out for inbound(duh thats a given) and we report 2 mile downwind. Usually past midfield they usually "cleared for the option" and we tell them inbound for touch and goes then or when we report for final.

If they need us to extend downwind, they usually tell us before we turn base. They seem to keep up with it usually. Although the biggest plane that comes in is the mesaba S340.

 

[FN FAL]

Does ATC get pissed???

Who cares...sometimes you just have to push back...just on "general principal". You'll know when and where, once you got some time under your belt.

 

[Kream926]

When I was the only one in the pattern, sometimes i'd get "cleared for the option until further notice"

user youll know what im talkin about


i got one of these one time doing my night currency

i got a cleared to land any runaway untill further notice, i was the only one and winds were calm


took off 1L to a kinda left base for 13 s&g to a right downwind for 1R then did a left pattern back to 1L.

some of the guys in the tower are nice to talk to when no one is around

when i did all my night solo stuff in the pattern i would be the only one on freq untill the top of each hour. he'd get hella busy then we'd be back to our convos. someday i wanna meet those people before my reign <sp> in oklahoma is over

 

[minitour]

The exception is if the tower has some local procedure that you should follow. For example, if it is SOP to report midfield or "abeam the numbers", then you should do that. How do I know if this airport has a local procedure? You'll be instructed by the tower, usually on the first trip around the pattern.

...that was exactly my point.

-mini

 

[Vector4fun]

Really, it depends on the Tower. At my facility, I've got three DBRITEs and a CONRAC in the Tower cab. If the radar's working, I KNOW where you are in the pattern. If I need a report, I'll ask for one, otherwise, there's simply no reason for you to report each downwind or base.

On the other hand, at a small tower without any BRITE or other radar display, it's very easy to loose sight of a white Cherokee in the haze, (especially if you're flying a Boeing sized pattern), and it's a good idea to have the pilot report midfield downwind or each base so you keep situational awareness in the Tower.

Student pilots seldom irritate me if I know they are one. It's the 50 yr old guy in the Baron who still doesn't know how to operate VFR at a controlled field that puts an edge in my voice....

 

[Laxman]

Its also SA for fellow pilots. If I know where you are based on your radio call, helps me find you in a hurry if I need to look for you cause I think you are going to be a conflict.

 

[User546]

user youll know what im talkin about

You mean that's still used as an active runway?!!? I better stop using that as a taxi-in to the ramp!

Two years of flying in and out of that airport, I've never seen or heard that runway being used! Well, next time I come head to head with you on that runway, I'll wave excitedly, knowing its ole Kream aboard!