Chart Supplement / Pattern Altitude / Pattern Direction

[Dave Grundgeiger]

Hello! My home airport is KMSN (Dane County Regional Airport in Madison, Wisconsin). The Chart Supplement page for this airport says "TPA--See Remarks." Then under remarks it says, "Overhead TPA rstd to 2500'". A few questions:

1. Isn't the word "Overhead" redundant when talking about altitude, or is there some information this word conveys here?
2. Is the 2500' value in reference to MSL or is it in reference to airport elevation? (It doesn't say anywhere in the remarks, and the legend doesn't say how to interpret it.)
3. Does "restricted to 2500'" mean "no higher than 2500'", "no lower than 2500'" or "exactly 2500'"?
4. Separate question: In the remarks it says "Rwy 18/36 left turn." But there are two other runways at the airport. Does this mean that the pattern direction for those runways is up to the tower? And when the tower isn't operating and there are no other aircraft in the pattern, is it up to the pilot?
5. Another separate question: The remarks say, "Noise abatement procedures in effect: departing acft utilize Rwy 36 and Rwy 3, arriving acft utilize Rwy 18 and Rwy 21." Would this always be true regardless of wind? (I don't see how it could.) Or will the tower change this as needed?

Sorry for the lengthy post. I thought I was going to only ask one question, but then the questions piled on.

Thank you!

Dave

 

[James331]

Direction is regulatory, don’t mess with it.

Pattern altitude is suggested, I default 1k AGL, but it’s not in stone

 

[mscard88]

Yeah so, you're new. You can only ask one question. So here's my answer for one of 'em.

Overhead (2500' MSL) pattern is for the fighters based there. F16s I believe.

Oh I'm kidding about the questions. Welcome.

 

[Ravioli]

The snarky comments in me are:

Pattern is MSL, of course. You don't have an AGL meter anywhere does ya?
You're unlikely to be doing an "overhead" if you don't know this bit.
Yes, people doing an overhead break should be exactly at the specified altitude. (they know how)
The noise abatement items are advisory, not regulatory.

 

[Dave Grundgeiger]

Thanks all for the replies. Snarky and otherwise.

 

[sarangan]

Hello! My home airport is KMSN (Dane County Regional Airport in Madison, Wisconsin). The Chart Supplement page for this airport says "TPA--See Remarks." Then under remarks it says, "Overhead TPA rstd to 2500'". A few questions:

1. Isn't the word "Overhead" redundant when talking about altitude, or is there some information this word conveys here?
2. Is the 2500' value in reference to MSL or is it in reference to airport elevation? (It doesn't say anywhere in the remarks, and the legend doesn't say how to interpret it.)
3. Does "restricted to 2500'" mean "no higher than 2500'", "no lower than 2500'" or "exactly 2500'"?
4. Separate question: In the remarks it says "Rwy 18/36 left turn." But there are two other runways at the airport. Does this mean that the pattern direction for those runways is up to the tower? And when the tower isn't operating and there are no other aircraft in the pattern, is it up to the pilot?
5. Another separate question: The remarks say, "Noise abatement procedures in effect: departing acft utilize Rwy 36 and Rwy 3, arriving acft utilize Rwy 18 and Rwy 21." Would this always be true regardless of wind? (I don't see how it could.) Or will the tower change this as needed?

Sorry for the lengthy post. I thought I was going to only ask one question, but then the questions piled on.

Thank you!

Dave

These are very good questions, but somewhat moot because you will not be selecting runways or altitude by yourself. MSN is a continuously attended class C airport, so just follow what the controller says. However, now I am curious why the chart supplement says all those things. Perhaps in case of a radio outage? I'm not sure.

 

[luvflyin]

Hello! My home airport is KMSN (Dane County Regional Airport in Madison, Wisconsin). The Chart Supplement page for this airport says "TPA--See Remarks." Then under remarks it says, "Overhead TPA rstd to 2500'". A few questions:

1. Isn't the word "Overhead" redundant when talking about altitude, or is there some information this word conveys here?
2. Is the 2500' value in reference to MSL or is it in reference to airport elevation? (It doesn't say anywhere in the remarks, and the legend doesn't say how to interpret it.)
3. Does "restricted to 2500'" mean "no higher than 2500'", "no lower than 2500'" or "exactly 2500'"?
4. Separate question: In the remarks it says "Rwy 18/36 left turn." But there are two other runways at the airport. Does this mean that the pattern direction for those runways is up to the tower? And when the tower isn't operating and there are no other aircraft in the pattern, is it up to the pilot?
5. Another separate question: The remarks say, "Noise abatement procedures in effect: departing acft utilize Rwy 36 and Rwy 3, arriving acft utilize Rwy 18 and Rwy 21." Would this always be true regardless of wind? (I don't see how it could.) Or will the tower change this as needed?

Sorry for the lengthy post. I thought I was going to only ask one question, but then the questions piled on.

Thank you!

Dave

The overhead is basically an upwind entry into the pattern. Sometimes called the 360 overhead. Used mostly by fighter type aircraft and flights. It accomplishes two things. One is it’s a good way to bleed off speed when the first 180 degree turn to downwind is made. It also allows the flight to peel off planes one at a time out of the flight making 180’s to downwind. It’s common that the ‘break,’ the first 180 to downwind, has a specified altitude. Go to the Pilot/Controller Glossary and see OVERHEAD MANEUVER

 

[Dave Grundgeiger]

The overhead is basically an upwind entry into the pattern. Sometimes called the 360 overhead. Used mostly by fighter type aircraft and flights. It accomplishes two things. One is it’s a good way to bleed off speed when the first 180 degree turn to downwind is made. It also allows the flight to peel off planes one at a time out of the flight making 180’s to downwind. It’s common that the ‘break,’ the first 180 to downwind, has a specified altitude. Go to the Pilot/Controller Glossary and see OVERHEAD MANEUVER

Thank you for the answer! Much appreciated!