AboutMalcolm Dickinson Expertise Certified flight instructor and commercial pilot, rated in all categories of
aircraft. I specialize in primary instruction in airplanes and gliders;
gyroplanes; and transition instruction in Lake Amphibians (seaplanes). As a
search-and-rescue pilot with Civil Air Patrol and the Coast Guard Auxiliary,
I can offer information on joining and flying with those organizations.
Experience Experience:
As a pilot, earning ratings in all categories of aircraft, including rotorcraft and lighter-than-air.
As a flight instructor, instructing eight high-school aged Civil Air Patrol cadets
Question Malcolm....what are the horizontal dimensions of an uncontrolled airport's traffic pattern? In FAR 91.113(g) it says that aircraft on final have the right of way over other aircraft. Can a plane calling a "10 mile straight-in final" have priority over a plane doing touch and go's in the pattern???? or does 91.113(g) really only pertain to aircraft on final WITHIN an airports pattern radius ?
Thanks
Answer As you read in 91.113(g), aircraft on final DO have right of way over aircraft on other legs of the pattern. However at an non-towered airport, calling "10 mile final" is contrary to the advice given by the Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM) chapter 4 section 4-3-3. long straight-in approaches at an uncontrolled field are not recommended.
