Video — Scary Near miss on final approach
When you’re in a busy circuit you’re sharing space with other planes which are sharing a small patch of sky with you — so it’s a time when you’re close to a lot of other planes — but there are ways to make sure you’re safe.
Listen — if people are making radio calls you can use this to build a picture of where everybody is — or atleast who might be aiming for the same piece of sky you are.
Look — You should visualise the circuit and places where joins intercept it, these are the main places you should look for other planes as well as a general scan.
Keep a good pattern — Put your plane where people expect it to be — that’s the right altitude, pattern and ensuring you have the right length of downwing leg. By being at the right altitude too you’ll also see other planes around the horizon.
But sometimes somebody comes along and just messes it up.
*This post originally featured a video from which the opening screenshot was taken. That video is no longer on youtube but this other one is pretty similar!
Originally published at www.loveplanes.co.uk on March 31, 2013.
