Traffic pattern requests to Tower

C

cdgundy

Filing Flight Plan
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Jul 28, 2010
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York, Pa
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0P8
Occasionally I listen to "LIVE ATC" and hear the request from someone doing touch and goes..."request short final on runway 31", which the tower usually approves. THis is from a class D airport with two long intersecting runways. I assume he is requesting a short final to save time in the pattern. My question is what is a short final compared to a "regular" final? How short is short? What is the controller expecting to see him do? Let's assume he's flying a Cessna 150. :confused:
 
I assume they are on base (or perhaps downwind) and they want to turn it shorter that you normally would. It was quite common for me at IAD to fly my base legs right at the numbers because there was plenty of room to turn final and touch down and make the first high speed which was 4500 down the runway from the threshold.
 
We used to request this on downwind when practicing simulated engine outs -- we'd turn base pretty quickly past abeam the numbers
 
It's all about the spacing. If you didn't request a short final, you could turn inside someone else and create a big problem. Even uncontrolled, its better to say what you're doing.
 
Alexb2000 said:
Even uncontrolled, its better to say what you're doing.
Click to expand...

Yes yes yes! We have a little convenience store off the end of the runway that can hide traffic turning a very short final There's this one seemingly wannabe fighter jock in a Decathlon (who, whenever he speaks over the radio, makes it sound like we're in Top Gun) who makes really short finals and turns base to final around the convenience store. Thankfully he's always on the radio, but if he weren't, that could be a recipe for disaster.
 
Tower is expecting everyone to comply with the recommended pattern outlined in the AIM. For instance, if tower says "early crosswind approved," well now I don't have to be 300 ft below pattern altitude and off the departure end of the runway before turning crosswind. When people do unexpected things in the pattern, problems tend to crop up.
 
I think the usual phraseology from Tower is "make short approach," not "short final," but the idea is to tighten up the pattern, usually to get you in in front of traffic on a straight-in rather than having to extend you out behind them. As noted, it just means "shorter than usual," and it's pretty much subjective.
 
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