Sometimes they are so far out on final I simply make an announcement, turn base and final and am back in my hangar before they even cross over the numbers.FAA Safety Briefing Editor, general aviation pilot, and flight instructor Susan K. Whether they are trying to build flight time by extending the downwind, or giving students time to get “set up”, it’s a recipe for disaster should they have an actual engine failure. There is also a lot of training and the beside terrible and improper radio protocol, with instructors trying to sound “cool” and clogging up the frequency, most of the instructors tend to drag out their downwinds so far that an engine failure would certainly put then on the roof of the Home Depot 10 miles away. Sometimes with no traffic and light winds I’ll land “against” the most common runway as it’s a 30 second taxi to my hangar after I turn off. Please just say “Cessna XYZ departing runway 4” (or whatever runway is preferred that day). So what runway are they “taking?” I could land or takeoff in any direction I want, even sideways or on the grass next to the runway. There is NO active runway at an uncontrolled, non towered airfield. I fly at an uncontrolled field and always hear “Cessna XYZ” taking the “active” runway. The alternative is for control towers at every airport with an instrument approach to prevent this very scenario between IFR and VFR traffic, and very FEW OF US WANT THAT! Sorry if you are offended by an extra radio call trying to find out where traffic might be located–(especially while someone in the traffic pattern is making the 4th call in the current circuit)–but the reason for using the radio IS for avoiding a mid-air AND for letting anyone ELSE see an aircraft that has just popped out of the clouds. (You DO maintain those altitudes, don’t you?) As for me, I’d rather make a radio call to let someone know where I am and ask where THEY are than take a chance on someone in my windshield right after breaking out of the overcast. (Yes, you can still fly the traffic pattern VFR IF you stay below 700′ AGL (magenta area on your VFR chart) OR, if above, maintain 500′ below clouds. In the meantime, the field is closed to any other aircraft taking off or landing IFR. (related note–you can only HOPE that the guy in the VFR traffic pattern IS MAINTAINING HIS OWN CLOUD CLEARANCE MINIMUMS).Īt most rural airfields, cancelling IFR on the ground would mean making a telephone call, after looking up the ATC number. * You CAN’T “cancel IFR” while still in clouds–or until you can maintain the 500′ below clouds OR are less than 700′ AGL and out of controlled airspace as required by the FAA. *You CAN’T “monitor the CTAF a bit earlier”, as you suggested–you are still IMC and need to monitor ATC. That puts you INSIDE the Final Approach Fix on a 1-2 mile final–spring-loaded for a missed approach. “In cloud until breaking out at 1000′ to 2000′ feet AGL, or restricted visibility in snow” (or with GPS approaches–even lower)–but in that case, there SHOULDN’T be VFR traffic to worry about anyway.
Everyone making that call thinks that they are somehow an exception to that rule, but in actuality they are pilots who have failed to prepare for the potentially-busy terminal environment they are entering. It’s pretty much acknowledged by everyone that “any traffic please advise” is never appropriate, which is why the AIM specifically advises against it.
“Any traffic please advise” strikes me as a a bit lazy, and if there are several other planes out there, it leads to temporary chaos on the frequency as everyone steps on each other as they try to respond. It’s your responsibility to see and avoid other traffic, it’s not their job to respond to a general request to identify themselves. Doing so will let you know who else is in the pattern, and start to form a picture in your mind of who is there and what they’re doing. I’d humbly suggest that you try to start listening to the CTAF a bit earlier, before you cancel IFR and are potentially screaming into a pattern already occupied by other aircraft.
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