More pattern shenanigans

Salty

Salty

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Salty
Was flying in to a little uncontrolled airport today and some idiot stopped his golf cart right in the middle of the runway, so I had to go around. As I’m turning crosswind someone makes a call that they are crossing over at 600 feet and making a short approach underneath me.

It was horrible. Shocking. Totally cut me off. Such a breach of etiquette.

Except for the previous paragraph it’s totally true. He landed and was off the runway before I ever got near it. He was flying a gyro.

point of the story is that there’s no fixed rule as to what is safe or “fair”. He didn’t get in my way, and it was totally safe.
 
Salty said:
they are crossing over at 600 feet and making a short approach underneath me.
...
He was flying a gyro.
...
it was totally safe.
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I wonder how safe it was for a gyro to fly through the wake of an airplane.
 
@Salty golf carts can be hard to see unless close up. Just saying
 
asicer said:
I wonder how safe it was for a gyro to fly through the wake of an airplane.
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With 600 foot vertical separation, in a C150? Safer than it was for me to fly through his.
 
Flying with gyros and paramotors (the one with the hang-glide wing and motor) is great. Smaller and tighter pattern, they fit in really nicely with us normies.

But I would totally have words with that golf cart guy.
 
Golf cart guy reminds me of the airport employee jackass at SQI driving his truck down runway 36 while I’m departing 25. He’s going maybe 50mph and shows no signs of braking until **right** before the RWY intersection. I sincerely considered giving his truck a makeover with my 9 iron, but instead I settled for many choice words on ground channel after a safe takeoff.
 
Salty said:
With 600 foot vertical separation, in a C150? Safer than it was for me to fly through his.
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I thought you were in a PA32. If it's a C150, it's like they don't exist. :)
 
Landed at one of those remote controlled airports in Canada today. The controller is just there to give advisories but doesn’t provide clearances or separation. Wind was light and variable. I came out of the southeast and wanted to join left downwind for the long runway. Another plane came from the north and wanted to go straight in for the short runway which intersects the long runway. I just joined downwind and controller asked the other plane if he had me in sight and if he wants to go first or second. I’d have been fine if he said first and I would have just extended my downwind. But, he said he wants to go second so I turn one mile base and the guy then goes, “oh actually, I go first”. I didn’t feel like cursing him out on the radio so I just announced I’ll do a right 360 for spacing and came in to land after him.
 
I fly a gyro (Magni M-16) as well as a Warrior. While my very competent and very well-respected gyro instructor taught me to fly 500 ft patterns at his field, I never, ever do that any more. It’s not an “inexpensive helicopter” - it’s a gyro. It’s much closer performance-wise to being a Cub with a spinning wing. And while I could literally do two or very likely three trips in the pattern for every one done by the typical fixed-wing, I don’t. I work hard to be as consistent and predictable as a fixed wing.

IMHO, and to my embarrassment and frustration, there’s a very pronounced “here - hold my beer” approach in the gyro community. One of the biggest parts of that is the “prerotation” process for most gyros (but not a Magni) and hogging up the runway for that.

Our clan has a very long way to become accepted by the rest of the flying community - which, sadly, is deserved.
 
Llewtrah381 said:
I fly a gyro (Magni M-16) as well as a Warrior. While my very competent and very well-respected gyro instructor taught me to fly 500 ft patterns at his field, I never, ever do that any more. It’s not an “inexpensive helicopter” - it’s a gyro. It’s much closer performance-wise to being a Cub with a spinning wing. And while I could literally do two or very likely three trips in the pattern for every one done by the typical fixed-wing, I don’t. I work hard to be as consistent and predictable as a fixed wing.
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The problem is, you are much smaller and no big wing, so MUCH harder to see. Same issue when I was flying a R-22. Better to stay away from the fixed wing aircraft.
 
Initial Fix said:
@Salty golf carts can be hard to see unless close up. Just saying
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We have the lawn mower to worry about. What we tend to do is click on the runway lights and make a low pass to get their attention. Last year we finally got a handheld radio and headphone adapter to stay with the mower. Or you time your approach until they are at one end of the field or the other and avoid them.
 
jsstevens said:
You know, as I read all these pattern horror stories :))) I realize if we each had our own private runway we wouldn’t have these conflicts. Problem solved. (I’m a policy person, not an implementer.)
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You've got my vote. :D
 
Hmm, that would be a LOT of runways to each have our own runway at each place we need to land. :D
 
Like flyingron, at our airport we have to look out for mowers...one day they decided to go to lunch and left mowing equipment next to the runway...you just have to be careful.

Not unusual to be in the pattern with one calling teardrop, and another on overhead break..:)
 
jsstevens said:
You know, as I read all these pattern horror stories :))) I realize if we each had our own private runway we wouldn’t have these conflicts. Problem solved. (I’m a policy person, not an implementer.)
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"Idea man", I like it.
 
I have had a moose cross the runway in front of me while on short, short final a few times.

I could not believe how they got on the runway without a radio call of even looking to see if another plane was on final.

But then again, I am not talking about a Murphy Moose...

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I had a coyote on the taxiway at Keene, had to stop for it. Yeah I wasn't flying at that point, but still, it could have opened the door and bit me. It was pretty polite though and got out of my way. A few minutes later the airport ops guy was in hot pursuit with his pickup and pyrotechnics.
 
Pinecone said:
The problem is, you are much smaller and no big wing, so MUCH harder to see. Same issue when I was flying a R-22. Better to stay away from the fixed wing aircraft.
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In your R-22, you could (and probably often did) land somewhere other than the runway. I don’t, which means I’m ultimately always going to end up in the same small corridor of airspace on short final. Plus I have a much steeper approach on final ordinarily, although I could flatten it out if it made sense for traffic. With that, if I’m at a lower pattern, there will come a point where I transition from being below traffic (on DW and Base) to above (on short final).

Your point is well-taken and I always run with ADS-B, use the radio, and even fly a tighter pattern. At my home drome, which is an airpark in a very built-up area, the Airpark wants helos at 1000 AGL as well. Anyone doing 500ft would cause complaints.

The bottom line to me is, just like motorcycles, the safest thing is to assume you’re invisible and not lean too much into the right-of-way “right”. My biggest frustration with fellow gyro pilots is they don’t stop and put themselves in the FW’s seat when they make decisions in the pattern. That’s especially true when they get on the runway and stop while they prerotate for about 30 seconds before their takeoff roll (my Magni gets prerotated in the runup area, so I can roll on the runway immediately)
 
I did a go-around at Davis Calif., (EDU) because of a large bird in the middle of the rwy. (Vulture?)

I've done a prop-strike on a pigeon-sized bird in a C152. That was exciting enough. I'm not about to hit a bird that's any larger, if I can help it.
 
Llewtrah381 said:
In your R-22, you could (and probably often did) land somewhere other than the runway. I don’t, which means I’m ultimately always going to end up in the same small corridor of airspace on short final. Plus I have a much steeper approach on final ordinarily, although I could flatten it out if it made sense for traffic. With that, if I’m at a lower pattern, there will come a point where I transition from being below traffic (on DW and Base) to above (on short final).
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It depends on the airport.

The airport I trained at, we did a RH pattern to the runway, but after that could and did taxi off to the side. Other airports, they fly the approach to the ramp.

Another local airport wanted helicopters in the same pattern as the fixed wing.
 
I made a personal rule for deer, but maybe will extend it to golf carts - Takeoff or landing, if my mains are on the ground, Bambi dies. I guess a golf cart is a little denser than Bambi, though. Wonder what that would look like? Golf carts seem to have a lower CG . . .if the strike wasn't square, maybe lose a wing? Weird ground loop, post crash fire?. I dunno. . .
 
At first I thought the OP was landing here: https://buttervalley.com/airport/

It's a nice little place but you do have to be aware that sometimes the golfers try to hit you on landing. Never seen a hit but did see a pilot go after the golfer!!
 
PaulS said:
I had a coyote on the taxiway at Keene, had to stop for it. Yeah I wasn't flying at that point, but still, it could have opened the door and bit me. It was pretty polite though and got out of my way. A few minutes later the airport ops guy was in hot pursuit with his pickup and pyrotechnics.
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Came across a coyote running alongside the runway landing at a fairly busy Delta. Notified the controller. Controller responds: welcome to Ogden.
 
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