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Mike Fox > Also, in response to some others I do fly a normal pattern and its > always within glide of the runway. My downwind is about 1-1.5 miles off > the runway Your pattern is too big. 1.5 miles is 9000 feet. If youre flying at 1000 AGL, youd need a 9:1 glide ratio to make the runway, which is a bit better than you can expect from a typical light plane. And thats not even counting altitude lost maneuvering. Or the fact that when youre out on the corners of the pattern, youre even further from the runway. Flying downwind a half mile out is plenty. With a 3000 foot runway, and a 1/2 mile wide downwind, I count about 4 miles around the pattern. If you average 75 kts, that should take you 3 minutes. You could do 20 trips around the pattern in an hour. Keep in mind that 800 feet used to be a common pattern altitude. Not only does that mean less time climbing and descending, but it also forces you into a smaller pattern if you want to stay within gliding distance. |
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