While it's true that you're unlikely to get lost in the pattern, the concept of keeping track of where you are and where you are going relative to the ground still applies. In fact, keeping an eagle eye on your ground track in the pattern is vitally important because small mistakes can have big consequences when it's time to land.
Basically, there are only two things that affect your ground track: the wind and your piloting. In most cases, deviations from your desired ground track are not caused by one or the other but by a combination in which you do a lousy job of holding the line and the wind makes it worse.
Your ability to control your ground track is dependent on your situational awareness - knowing where you are and what your airplane is doing at every second. Being aware of the airplane's relationship to the ground is something you should work on until it becomes part of your flying on both a subliminal and a conscious level.
On a conscious level, it helps tremendously if we visualize an exact path across the ground. At the same time, however, we should be seeing the bigger picture - the ground as it is bordered by the horizon and not just the patch of earth underneath us. If we see the entire picture, we don't have to look at the horizon separately. It just becomes part of our general awareness and, without thinking about it, we'll know when the nose is going up or down or the wings aren't level or there are any other indications that the airplane attitude or direction has changed. It is this combination of consciously planning and following a ground track and maintaining a subconscious awareness of the horizon that lets us control the airplane precisely.
You may think that I'm complicating something that's basically very simple. The pattern is just a big rectangle. We fly the rectangle, and that's it. You're right.
That's all there is to it. And if every pilot did exactly that, there would be no need to discuss this subject any further. But, we don't always fly the path we think we do. Try this experiment: The next time you fly when there's any kind of wind across the runway, take a look behind you as you turn crosswind. Are you still on the extended centerline?
Here's another question for you. Without looking, can you name the ground features at your home airport that lie exactly on the extended centerline? Have you ever looked at the ground on takeoff and said to yourself, The centerline runs right through the corner of that housing development and that's where the airplane should go? If you have, you are to be congratulated, because most pilots have never noticed what defines the centerline on the ground, even though they may have taken off from that same runway hundreds of times.
Is it really important that the pilot stay right on centerline after he or she has taken off? That depends on your feelings about doing things right. Drifting off the centerline isn't always a big safety issue. But it does say that you are willing to accept approximations, and approximations have a way of building up until they become full-fledged mistakes. Let's do away with the concept of "good enough" - decide to get it right. That precision will carry over to the rest of the pattern.
The sideways drift on climbout is caused by the same factors that put us off track everywhere else in the pattern. The wind, of course, is a big factor but certainly not the only one. Even on a calm day, it's easy to look back during the crosswind turn and find that we're off centerline. Why? It's usually a combination of letting a wing drop just a degree or two below level flight without making a correction and letting the ball slide off center by not correcting properly for P-factor, torque, slipstream, etc.
Correcting for the sliding ball is usually a matter of applying the correct amount of right rudder. Correcting for the wing drop goes back to being subliminally aware of the horizon. If you keep the horizon on the edge of your peripheral vision and you're aware of it moving, you'll keep the wings level during climb and the airplane won't turn, assuming the ball is centered. The simplest cure for both of these problems is to pick a path on the ground that you know represents the centerline and fly it.
Now it's time to turn crosswind. But, before you do, look sideways and pick out a reference on the ground and/or horizon that is oriented 90 degrees to the left of your line of travel, assuming a left pattern. That's where you want to put the nose when you roll out on crosswind.
Of course, if you're still in a climb after you've turned, that point will be under the nose and invisible. So, what should you do? For one thing, while you're in the turn you should be looking over your shoulder at the runway and trying to make sure you are flying a course that's exactly perpendicular to it.
For another thing, when you pick the ground track that will define your crosswind, you should notice topographical features, such as houses, railroads, or power lines that are located along side of that line. As you make the turn and those points slide into position, you'll know when you have reached 90 degrees. Remember, everything you do to add precision to your flying will help to make you a better pilot.
On downwind, it's easy to lull yourself into thinking that this leg is nothing more than a simple straight line parallel to the runway - which is exactly what it's supposed to be. But how often do you find yourself drifting either toward or away from the runway as you travel along downwind? As you initiate the turn onto downwind, pick a point on the ground that is directly under the airplane at that moment, then look toward the other end of the runway and pick another that's the same distance from the runway. That will give you a target to aim toward.
Also, glance out at the wing or strut and notice where the runway intersects with it. That will give you another reference to use.
However, be aware that, if the wind is trying to push you off course and you have to crab into it, the reference point on the wing will shift. The cure for that is to pick the reference point after you've set up the wind correction angle.
You must also realize that, if your altitude changes and you hold the same reference point on the wing or strut, you will actually move in or out relative to the runway. When that happens, remember that the geographical points you picked on the ground are still there and use them.
While you're still on downwind and approaching a position abeam the end of the runway, look ahead and try to visualize where you're going to put the base leg. As we cruise past the end of the runway, we tend to keep looking back at it while asking ourselves if it's time to turn base.
While the rule of thumb you'll often hear is that you should turn base when the numbers (or the threshold) are 45 degrees behind your wing, the truth is that there are a lot of variables that can affect this decision. Most of the time, you can't actually pick an exact ground path for the base leg until it's almost time to make the turn. Creating a set of reference points for the base leg means you don't have to spend so much time looking behind you. That's especially important if you're in a busy pattern and need to be looking out for traffic in front of you and to the sides.
Incidentally, just because the downwind-to-base turn is such a judgment call doesn't mean that you should make a habit of dragging the airplane out farther than necessary. Habitually riding the throttle down final is no substitute for developing the ability to understand and predict your airplane's performance.
Once you've made the turn to base, be aware of what the wind is doing to both your ground track and your altitude. If there is any wind down the runway, you're going to have to turn a little past 90 degrees to place your nose into the wind. If you don't, your ground track will not be perpendicular to the runway but will actually angle away from the runway. That's never good. It means you're wasting some of the energy the airplane possessed when you started the approach, and that makes you even more dependent on the throttle.
Remember that if there's a crosswind, part of it is going to be either on your nose or your tail. If it's pushing you on base leg, there will be a tendency to be high on final. If it is on your nose on base leg, it'll hold you out there on base a little longer and you'll lose more altitude than normal.
The effect of the wind is one of the factors that make your ground track so critical when you turn final. It's easy to overshoot final, if the wind is pushing you, but, if the wind is holding you back, it's even easier to wind up short of final, requiring a correction back toward centerline.
While still on base and getting ready to turn onto the final approach, look down and see where the runway centerline runs across the ground. We want our turn to put us exactly on that line.
Part of knowing when to start the turn is guesswork based on how the airplane reacted to the wind while on base. If it seemed to take longer than normal to fly base, we know the wind is holding us back, and vice versa. Either way, we have to adjust the base-to-final turn accordingly.
Probably the safest way to make sure the turn puts you right on the centerline is to initiate it with a fairly shallow bank and immediately begin tracking your progress across the ground. As soon as the airplane starts turning, you'll begin getting visual cues as to where it is going, and you can correct accordingly. However, don't depend on looking only at the runway to determine where you'll intersect the centerline. Try to visualize an extended centerline on the ground and work toward lining up over the landmarks you have selected.
It's right there in the base-to-final turn that having a total awareness of the airplane's attitude and ground track is critical. If a subconscious awareness of both the horizon and the ground are imprinted in your brain, you'll pick up on the tiniest clues that show you're moving toward the centerline too quickly or will turn short of the line.
The goal, whether you're overshooting or undershooting the line, is to notice the trend early enough that you can make necessary bank angle changes in a smooth, progressive manner, rather than being forced into making rapid control movements.
While in the turn, it is important that you be aware of what the nose attitude is doing in relation to the horizon. Most, if not all, stall-spin accidents are caused by someone missing the visual cue that the nose is higher than it should be. Again, it's just a matter of being aware of what the airplane is doing on all three axes.
Once on final, it's not so much a matter of trucking along a visual line on the ground as it is being aware of the airplane trying to move left or right of that line. This can be done by looking ahead at the runway numbers, but until you're fairly close to them the movement is hard to see.
However, because you're so low on short final, you'll be amazed by how obvious sideways movement becomes if you simply use your peripheral vision to look at the ground. Most often, it's not so much that you actually "see" the airplane moving sideways as it is that you "sense" it because everything in your peripheral vision isn't moving straight ahead. The closer you get to the runway, the more obvious ground movements become until you'd need to be wearing an instrument hood to miss them.
It's unrealistic to think you'll be able to easily visualize a path along the ground for every approach to every airport. But, you should try. By making yourself aware of the ground and how the airplane is moving across it, any mistakes you make will be small ones because you'll see them coming well in advance.
Just remember: the ground never moves. Pay attention to it and what it is telling you and your flying will become much more precise - always a worthy goal.
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