report midfield

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jbgood8

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approaching a class d airport with 3 runways,tower instructed "report midfield" . (no other instructions) what does this mean?

1-- to report abeam midfield on left downwind? 2-- or right downwind? 3-- which runway?

or 4-- fly to the middle of the field and report midfield as i am over the middle of the field?
i know best to ask for clarification. but controler is very busy. what did he mean?
 
What runway did the ATIS say was in use? Controller should have told you the runway though. So I'd guess whatever runway is in use enter DW for that runway and report midfield. Better yet, ask what runway.
 
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jbgood8 said:
approaching a class d airport with 3 runways,tower instructed "report midfield" . (no other instructions) what does this mean?

1-- to report abeam midfield on left downwind? 2-- or right downwind? 3-- which runway?

or 4-- fly to the middle of the field and report midfield as i am over the middle of the field?
i know best to ask for clarification. but controler is very busy. what did he mean?
Click to expand...
What did ATIS say?

What did the controller say when you asked?
 
The controller should have specified a runway, even if only one landing runway was mentioned on the ATIS. If he doesn't, ask for the runway assignment, "[callsign], request runway assignment", or verify/request the runway you want or expect, "[callsign], confirm/request runway 17".

Per 14 CFR 91.129(f), unless otherwise authorized or required by ATC (14 CFR 91.129 (a)), a pilot of an airplane approaching to land at an airport with an operating control tower is to circle the airport to the left. That means that the midfield report would be midfield downwind. If left traffic doesn't make sense from the direction you are approaching, ask. In such a situation, I would request right traffic. Alternatively, you could ask what type of pattern entry he wanted.
 
Did you report ,you had the atis info? The controller assumed you had the landing runway info.
 
"Report midfield" means to make a position report to the tower mid runway on your downwind leg to let them know when you have made it to that point so they can sus out your landing clearance with the spacing of other potential traffic..."Tower, Sklyane 123, midfield runway xx"

Sounds like you have bigger situational awareness issues not knowing what downwind leg on what side of what runway you should have been on.

Tower is NEVER to busy to clarify an unclear/uncertain instruction. That is how you have mid air collisions.

...I'm gonna assume you are just listening to LiveATC or SIM work and have yet to start actually flight training yet...correct?
 
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mscard88 said:
What runway did the ATIS say was in use? Controller should have told you the runway though. So I'd guess whatever runway is in use enter DW for that runway and report midfield. Better yet, ask what runway.
Click to expand...

Exactly, ATIS and when in doubt just ask
 
Every time I've been told to report midfield, it was immediately preceded by an instruction to enter either a left or right downwind for a specified runway.

For example: "Cessna N123A enter a left downwind for runway 23. Report midfield."

I have never heard it as a standalone instruction.
 
SkyDog58 said:
I have never heard it as a standalone instruction.
Click to expand...
Nor have I, but if I did I would ask to confirm the ATIS assigned runway with the pattern direction for that airport/runway. IE, if ATIS says landing and departing 28 I would read back "will report midfield downwind, confirming left traffic for 28"

There's too much risk of a collision in busy airspace to not ask/clarify/confirm, esp since many Class Ds just rely on binoculars and human coordination
 
Tantalum said:
Nor have I, but if I did I would ask to confirm the ATIS assigned runway with the pattern direction for that airport/runway. IE, if ATIS says landing and departing 28 I would read back "will report midfield downwind, confirming left traffic for 28"

There's too much risk of a collision in busy airspace to not ask/clarify/confirm, esp since many Class Ds just rely on binoculars and human coordination
Click to expand...

Absolutely.
 
atis indicated 2 of the 3 runways in use. thank you for reply's and answers.
 
At my home class D, there is no atis as such, only a asos weather report that doesn't have any info on runways. However, you can usually get a pretty good idea which runway will be assigned by which way the wind is blowing. Regardless, they always assign a runway. Maybe in this case they had no other traffic in the area and they were just going to clear him to land on whichever runway he chose to report downwind on!
 
Considering the requirements of 14 CFR 91.129, if the controller says "report midfield", without specifying a runway, you can enter the pattern for any runway you want--as long as you circle to the left. That's why they will almost always specify a runway.
 
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