Entering the pattern towered airport

Trogdor said:
When the tower says report a 3 mile right base, I assume that means get on the right base and report when I’m about 3 miles from the airport (I.e. when I get clearance to bounce-and-go and have to turn final I’m ~3 miles out).

I’ve heard others say that means an actual 3 mile base??
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I have no idea what the last thing means, but the 3-mile base is a normal base leg that sticks out 3-miles (not a turn from base to final that's three miles from the runway).
 
Trogdor said:
When the tower says report a 3 mile right base, I assume that means get on the right base and report when I’m about 3 miles from the airport
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That term is not defined so it means whatever the controller speaking it thinks it means.

It could mean on base, three miles from joining final or three miles from the airport.

In practice, the difference doesn't matter. The controller is asking for a call when you are close to entering the pattern, but still outside of it, so that he can sequence you. Something approximating either measurement will work.
 
Trogdor said:
When the tower says report a 3 mile right base, I assume that means get on the right base and report when I’m about 3 miles from the airport (I.e. when I get clearance to bounce-and-go and have to turn final I’m ~3 miles out).

I’ve heard others say that means an actual 3 mile base??
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Put yourself in the tower cab with binoculars hanging around your neck. Some guy (you) calls in 10 miles out. Are you gonna start immediately scouring the sky with those binocs straining to see you Somewhere Out There (my favorite Linda Ronstadt song)? No! You'll have you report when you're closer to someplace you can actually see you at. After all, those binoculars are HEAVY! This isn't a GPS thing.
 
Trogdor said:
When the tower says report a 3 mile right base, I assume that means get on the right base and report when I’m about 3 miles from the airport (I.e. when I get clearance to bounce-and-go and have to turn final I’m ~3 miles out).

I’ve heard others say that means an actual 3 mile base??
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The difference is academic. Three miles to the airport and three miles to your turn to final is almost the same distance and within your ability to judge.
 
Ravioli said:
Call up before entering their airspace and they will instruct you. They will care if you fail to follow the instructions.
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Heh. They will also care if you fail to call them up before entering their airspace!
 
Sac Arrow said:
The difference is academic. Three miles to the airport and three miles to your turn to final is almost the same distance and within your ability to judge.
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I think a^2 + b^2 = c^2 is the academic answer. In this case a 3 mile base to a 1 mile final would mean a position report at c = 3.16 miles.
Keep it tight with a 3 base to .5 final and you're at c = 3.04 miles.

Not a level of precision anyone could ever expect to be held to, IMHO.
 
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dtuuri said:
Put yourself in the tower cab with binoculars hanging around your neck. Some guy (you) calls in 10 miles out. Are you gonna start immediately scouring the sky with those binocs straining to see you Somewhere Out There (my favorite Linda Ronstadt song)? No! You'll have you report when you're closer to someplace you can actually see you at. After all, those binoculars are HEAVY! This isn't a GPS thing.
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That's usually how I think about it when I'm coming into a Delta. I always took the "report x mile right/left base" as the controller just putting me in a position where they can easily see me visually. So if I'm told to report 3 mile right base, I'll just enter the traffice pattern directly on base and let them know when I'm about 3 miles from the airport/runway. My last flight into a Delta was kind if funny since I was in an airplane without a transponder.

me: "Tower, Bugsmasher 12345 10 miles north inbound with romeo"
tower: "Bugsmasher 345 ident"
me: "negative transponder, bugsmasher 345"
tower: "uhhhh...rogerrr...where are you again?"
 
Geez, listen to ATIS, get lined up on a ten mile strait-in final to the active, and call the tower.
 
When I was flying out of Minot on a regular basis I had User Waypoints set up in Garmin Pilot. Their typical instruction was "Report 3-mile base..." or "Report 2-mile base..." No matter which runway was in use nor from which direction I was coming, it was just a matter of hitting D-> for whichever 3-mile base was required. If they were looking for a 3-mile report, I simply reported as I was crossing the WP, if they were looking for a 2-mile report, I waited another 30 seconds... :D

Screenshot_20201118-100212_Pilot.jpg
 
Ravioli said:
I think a^2 + b^2 = c^2 is the academic answer. In this case a 3 mile base to a 1 mile final would mean a position report at c = 3.16 miles.
Keep it tight with a 3 base to .5 final and you're at c = 3.04 miles.

Not a level of precision anyone could ever expect to be held to, IMHO.
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However, it *could* matter if he's expecting you (say landing 27), 3 miles south and 1/2 mile east of the airport with a bizjet on 5 mile final, vs 3 miles east and 1/2 mile south. Distance isn't necessarily the only consideration.
 
Ryan F. said:
Larry mentioned that if the entry doesn't make sense, ask for something else. The most common reason for the tower-requested entry seeming to not make sense is the pilot's incorrect advisement of his or her location on the initial call-up. Suggestion would be to take a quick minute and be sure your location is correct before sharing it with the tower. Goes a long way towards avoiding problems.
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And I've often had tower offer a couple options when I'm in the middle between a straight in and base entry to the main runway (usually 23) when I'm coming from the north. "Would a right base or straight in work better for you?" I generally base my answer on who else is on a straight in and what it is. A base gives me the option of eyes on traffic better.
 
smv said:
When I was flying out of Minot on a regular basis I had User Waypoints set up in Garmin Pilot. Their typical instruction was "Report 3-mile base..." or "Report 2-mile base..." No matter which runway was in use nor from which direction I was coming, it was just a matter of hitting D-> for whichever 3-mile base was required. If they were looking for a 3-mile report, I simply reported as I was crossing the WP, if they were looking for a 2-mile report, I waited another 30 seconds... :D

View attachment 91923
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I like the distance ring around the plane on my iFly 740. Typically I set the scale for 3-4 miles, and it's pretty easy to interpolate fractions of that as you report to tower.
 
Kenny Phillips said:
Geez, listen to ATIS, get lined up on a ten mile strait-in final to the active, and call the tower.
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I've listened to the ATIS, lined up for a ten mile straight in, established myself on the localizer, and called for a pop up IFR clearance more than once. ATC knew what I was doing and didn't mind. Saved them from a lot of vectoring.
 
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