AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2011 - 22

LETTERS
pattern procedure would even begin to contemplate such a maneuver. What you are doing with a 90-degree overhead entry is barging into the traffic pattern from inside the pattern, not entering it, and because you are entering the pattern from inside the pattern, you are forcing everyone else to give way to you. A pilot on a normal, 45-degree entry onto midfield, downwind, is damned close to head-on to you. You actually want to put yourself, and everyone else in the pattern, in that kind of position? Lee Taylor, AOPA 367412 Diamondhead, Mississippi As to Tom Horne’s assertion that “It’s all about telling everyone where you are,” well, yes. But what does that have to do, directly, with the type of pattern one flies? And it sounds as though he maybe thinks that everyone else out there has a radio. Well, no, Tom, maybe they don’t. (I, myself, will no longer fly a nonradioequipped aircraft, but I would defend to the death the right to do so!) Stanley E. McGrew, AOPA 0593576 Morgan, Utah

Finally! Dave Hirschman should be crowned the “Prince of Common Sense” for finally putting something in writing in a national publication that promotes safe pattern entry from the cold side. The key to any pattern entry is to do what others expect. The problem with “what others expect” is there is no definitive, FAAsanctioned instructions for entering the pattern from the cold side and, after 2,500 hours and 14 years of flying, I have yet to find consensus among instructors. Tom Horne is half right and has a valid point about flying what everybody expects; unfortunately there is little agreement for a “cold” side approach. Ron Hays, AOPA 1313373 Santa Barbara, California OK, guys, your dogfight on pattern entries was just about anything but enlightening. I’ve been a member of AOPA and active reader of this magazine for almost 10 years and this article rates as one of the worst ones I’ve ever seen on these pages. I look to your magazine as the pinnacle of information in the GA flying industry. It should be professional, well thought out, and provocative. This was none of those for me. There are plenty

of times when a nonstandard pattern entry will work just fine, but I find it hard to believe that you think it is acceptable to advocate to your pilot audience, especially those just learning the ropes, that it’s OK, even “FAA-approved” to enter a busy airport traffic pattern at midfield. Tom Horne was a little too minimalist for me, but I agree with him. Dave Hirschman is a little too complacent for my tastes. I don’t think this article was in the best interests of your readers. There are no old, bold pilots. Randy McLain, AOPA 3959026 Laclede, Idaho Time to buy Thomas B. Haines’ article “Waypoints: Time to Buy” (January 2011 AOPA Pilot). affirmed my feelings since I bought my first airplane in July. I bought a 1977 Grumman Lynx with all of the speed mods for the price of a new car, and cheaper than most trucks. With two kids in college, I struggled with the financial aspect of ownership; however, the joy of opening the hangar and seeing that beautiful little Lynx waiting for me to throttle up is like no other feeling I know. From doing the maintenance to flying to

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2011

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