I'll call your base
- Thread starter Tom-D
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They know you're a GI who is AWOL and they will let your commanding officer know where you may be found. 
rk911
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atc wants you to extend your downwind for separation. they will tell you when you're to turn base.
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Velocity173
They want you to continue downwind for spacing purposes. Generally they'll use "extend downwind, I'll call your base."
I've heard this when someone is on an instrument approach and for spacing purposes can't get me in before him so he lets me know when I will turn base. There have been times I've been over 10 miles outside the Delta when I got the base turn...
Let'sgoflying!
Touchdown! Greaser!
They are planning on forgetting you , hoping you will smack into the mountains and no longer have to deal with you. (KELP, 20 years ago, downwind rwy 8R)
MauleSkinner
Touchdown! Greaser!
...which generally means either they forgot about you, or you're flying fast in a direction you don't want to go.
Ravioli
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The easy part is they want you to stay on downwind until instructed to turn the base.
The interesting learning part? Do you maintain TPA until given the turn? Or do you fly your 'usual' pattern and extend and turn in lower?
I stay at TPA until turned and then descend in base and longer final. Not sure if I was taught that or just figured it out on my own.
Comments welcome.
The interesting learning part? Do you maintain TPA until given the turn? Or do you fly your 'usual' pattern and extend and turn in lower?
I stay at TPA until turned and then descend in base and longer final. Not sure if I was taught that or just figured it out on my own.
Comments welcome.
Timbeck2
Final Approach
It would be silly NOT to maintain TPA until they turn you simply because you don't know when they are going to turn you. Personally, I don't like to extend anyone's base or call it for that matter.
Cajun_Flyer
Pattern Altitude
I get "I'll call your base" from my tower about as often as I get to turn on my own. I just hang out on downwind til they tell me to do otherwise. It's always a little unnerving as I get closer and closer to the Bravo, but they keep us out of it. Joys of a busy airport.
Omalley1537
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Sean
They want to see where the next batter places his hit, to see if you can steal third...
As the others have said, they mean that instead of you controlling your downwind to base turn placement they will instead (for spacing or other issues). Typically when it's happened to me, it's been due to an aircraft who was allowed straight-in, or a base entry that was now ahead of me, but not far enough (KPAE seems to bring me straight in a lot if I'm over N Everett).
As the others have said, they mean that instead of you controlling your downwind to base turn placement they will instead (for spacing or other issues). Typically when it's happened to me, it's been due to an aircraft who was allowed straight-in, or a base entry that was now ahead of me, but not far enough (KPAE seems to bring me straight in a lot if I'm over N Everett).
...which generally means either they forgot about you, or you're flying fast in a direction you don't want to go.
I was following a plane in front of me who was following another plane in front of them. Very busy pattern!
Lachlan
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Croomrider
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Mike
Happens to me fairly often when doing pattern work. It allows them to work other traffic in before you land. Stay at TPA, your final will probably be longer than normal and you can easily lose the extra altitude in base and final. Also, be prepared to remind them your still flying downwind if it seems they've forgotten you!
MauleSkinner
Touchdown! Greaser!
How fast?
Timbeck2
Final Approach
I'd say the cause is 50/50 controller/pilot. Pilots don't do what they're supposed to or what they're told and controllers don't keep pilots informed enough to help them out. "Extend upwind one half mile following a Mooney on a six mile final." Two things can happen. The pilot doesn't extend upwind or the controller simply said closed traffic approved instead of the above and decided to sequence on the downwind, which didn't work.
Cajun_Flyer
Pattern Altitude
Doesn't seem the case where I fly out of. It happens mostly because we have so many people in the pattern and a lot of business jets coming/going.
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Velocity173
Think I only used "extend" for getting spacing with arrival vs departure. Arrival vs arrival, most of the time "Cessna 345, number two, follow the..." works just fine.
Fearless Tower
Touchdown! Greaser!
I generally maintain TPA unless terrain is an issue.
Doing pattern work on 28R at MYF, it is pretty common to have tower call your base, but if it is really busy, you can end up on an extended downwind toward rising terrain. I would typically climb in those situations.
rk911
Cleared for Takeoff
I do precisely the same.
Ravioli
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The learning part of this is important. There have been threads here about pilots on their first solo getting extended and being a bit uneasy about what to do and turning final "below the glide slope". <-- using the cheater lights before PPL? Another thread for another day.
Fearless Tower
Touchdown! Greaser!
If all Tower says was 'cleared to land', why are you asking about 'calling base'?
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Velocity173
Also, don't mistake "continue" with "extend." We had a thread about that where the pilot got chewed out (incorrectly) by tower for not extending downwind on a "continue" from the tower. Two different commands.
Tom-D
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Tom-D
A bit confused ? I was told "I'll call your base" then after that was told "Cleared to land" at mid field.
Fearless Tower
Touchdown! Greaser!
If they tell you cleared to land after telling you that they will call your base, that means the reason for needing you to extend the downwind had resolved and I agree, that you are cleared to proceed. Usually they will tell you base approved or at your discretion when they clear you to land in such case, but not always.
Ravioli
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Last instruction was "Cleared to land"? Comply if safe. What's the question?
Are you asking why you were 'expecting' a turn to base and instead got cleared to land? Many factors for that.
Also, the landing clearance was not in your initial post.
mscard88
Touchdown! Greaser!
Think you misunderstood Tom-D Fearless. He is saying he was told by the controller "I'll call your base". Subsequently the controller told him he was "cleared to land" without ever calling his base, which, as you say, the conflict was resolved. Tom did right by landing.
To the OP, you can expect extend downwind, I'll call your base, make a right 360, make a right 270 report base.... really a lot of ways a controller can work you in the pattern. Hopefully your CFI is experienced enough to have had this happen so he can instruct you. If you haven't done so, go for a tower visit and ask them questions. They will be very cordial and will explain what and why do things in the pattern. Take your CFI with you if don't want to go alone, or if you think they need training too.
To the OP, you can expect extend downwind, I'll call your base, make a right 360, make a right 270 report base.... really a lot of ways a controller can work you in the pattern. Hopefully your CFI is experienced enough to have had this happen so he can instruct you. If you haven't done so, go for a tower visit and ask them questions. They will be very cordial and will explain what and why do things in the pattern. Take your CFI with you if don't want to go alone, or if you think they need training too.
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midlifeflyer
Touchdown! Greaser!
Absolutely right.
One of the things too many CFIs don't do well is explain pattern operations at towered airports. You get a pretty decent taste for variety when you are based at one but if you're not, it seems to be an area that gets pretty short shrift. I wonder how many folks who fly almost exclusively at nontowered airports realize that all the ground reference maneuvers involve things you might be asked to do in the traffic pattern? There was an NTSB report some years ago involving a student pilot who was asked to do S-turns on final , crashed and was killed. It's one of the few NTSB reports that lays some blame o a CFI - improper instruction regarding the execution of s-turns on final approach to increase spacing.
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Velocity173
Think you misunderstood Tom-D Fearless. He is saying he was told by the controller "I'll call your base". Subsequently the controller told him he was "cleared to land" without ever calling his base, which, as you say, the conflict was resolved. Tom did right by landing.
To the OP, you can expect extend downwind, I'll call your base, make a right 360, make a right 270 report base.... really a lot of ways a controller can work you in the pattern. Hopefully your CFI is experienced enough to have had this happen so he can instruct you. If you haven't done so, go for a tower visit and ask them questions. They will be very cordial and will explain what and why do things in the pattern. Take your CFI with you if don't want to go alone, or if you think they need training too.
Well, since the OP didn't include the clearance to land in the original post, I'd say a few of us misunderstood him.
Cajun_Flyer
Pattern Altitude
I don't get what is confusing here. Sometimes they will say "I'll call your base," but then the situation resolves itself and they then say "Clear to land." If they wanted you to make a "Short Approach," they would have said so. There was no reason to dive it in from midfield when you got "Clear to Land." You were fine to do a normal pattern at that point.
mscard88
Touchdown! Greaser!
denverpilot
Tied Down
If you're letting down from TPA anywhere you can't glide to the runway, you're setting yourself up for an off-field landing. Or worse.
Stay at TPA until the runway is assured. If nothing else to give yourself a whopping fifteen seconds to troubleshoot and decide where to go if the powerplant decides it's taking a vacation today.
Many "airliner sized traffic patterns" are already setting you up for this at some airports. Why add to the insanity?
I've been turned base by a controller so far out, I might as well have flown the full ILS procedure from the outer marker. No reason to let down at all VMC. Fly back closer to the airport and then start a descent.
The turn is never the trigger for the descent. The distance from the runway is.
Cajun_Flyer
Pattern Altitude
On one of my first flights alone after my checkride, I was asked to do that. I started to do it, but then wasn't quite sure if I was doing it correctly and started to get stressed. Being low and slow, and being PIC, I made the decision to go around. Told the tower what I was going to do and they simply just advised me to do the go around north of the runway paralleling the landing Cessna. NBD. We're PIC... we are in charge of our own safety. Apparently, there was a student pilot behind me and when I was tying down my plane, he came zipping up to me completely beside himself that I told tower I wanted to go around instead of doing S-Turns. Had no idea we could take charge of a situation like that.
I'd argue that HE was the one with a bad CFI. While my CFI may not have taught me how to do the best s-turns on final in the world, he certainly taught me how to be safe in the pattern. We can't expect our instructors to teach us to master everything. So, I disagree with the NTSB on that one.
denverpilot
Tied Down
On one of my first flights alone after my checkride, I was asked to do that. I started to do it, but then wasn't quite sure if I was doing it correctly and started to get stressed. Being low and slow, and being PIC, I made the decision to go around. Told the tower what I was going to do and they simply just advised me to do the go around north of the runway paralleling the landing Cessna. NBD. We're PIC... we are in charge of our own safety. Apparently, there was a student pilot behind me and when I was tying down my plane, he came zipping up to me completely beside himself that I told tower I wanted to go around instead of doing S-Turns. Had no idea we could take charge of a situation like that.
And if you really aren't sure what to do, "unable" is one of the strongest safety words ever used over a radio. There's no shame in ever saying it.
Cajun_Flyer
Pattern Altitude
x1000
I think anxiety with ATC is what gets a lot of pilots killed. They feel forced to do things, when you never HAVE to do anything.
mscard88
Touchdown! Greaser!
That's why I always take my students on visits to the tower and /or approach control. A CFI should stress what you stated above also so a student knows if they are uncomfortable with the request they can request to do something else or of course say unable.
denverpilot
Tied Down
I've felt it. It takes a conscious effort at first to say, "They're not flying the plane, I am.", sometimes.
It's good to meet controllers and know they're not scary people in a mystery place, but just humans sitting in a chair about 300 yards away.
Scrabo
Pattern Altitude
Also can ask you to extend your upwind before turning crosswind, there has been a few times local ATC have taken me dangerously close th PHX bravo before calling the turn.
SkyDog58
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Canis Non Grata
I've been told to extend downwind, to do a 360 on downwind, to do a 270 right as I was about to turn base and to do s turns on final. All bummers but all better than rubbing metal. But I have also been asked to go short approach if possible in order to get me in ahead of other traffic. I love that.