Circuit references

[Mazza]

Evening all!
Whilst learning circuits today at the airfield, I was told a lot of local ground references to use whilst in the circuits, some of the quite odd!

For instances, for the crosswind leg, it's 'Fly the damned thing toward the point of the island, like you're gonna 'trim it' down!'
The downwind.. 'Fly it at the town, like you're gonna crash it there...'

Base turn....That green shed down there (There are a lot of sheds!)

Holding base, at that bright green paddock! (Again, farmland, LOTS of paddocks!)

On final, 'don't aim for that boat!' (There is a marooned boat of the side off to the side of the RWY!

(All these just for RWY 22

[machineman9]

As part of an air experience flight, I was told to aim it at the petrol station 

[Sir Puma]

When I was a young'n and flew with my friend, everything was done that way. Cross Runway landings were just that, literally across the runway side to side. The airport only had one runway then and we would get some nasty crosswinds. Other landmarks were Jess Ranch (a locally known ranch with private airstrip). Thousands of miles of barren desert and I'm supposed to figure out what patch of clear ground is a ranch. Bell Mountain was easy to spot. It looked like a bell and had radio antenna on it.

[Bud Greene]

I have no flying experience, however once when going to install a 'For Sale' sign for a realtor I was instructed to "go to where the lady is walking her dog".  I felt it necessary to ask if the lady would be there when I arrive in the neighborhood two hours later.

[C]

Tree, church, bush. Not very exciting!

[littlebenny]

follow that husky ( towplane) until you think you should turn to base and yet i turned

[DaveSims]

My story is a little different, but funny nonetheless.

My first lesson, we taxied to the end of Runway 5 (small quiet GA airport, no taxiway).  Once lined up at the end, the instructor suddenly tells me to kill the engine, so I do.  He then unbuckles and gets out of the plane.  Mind you we are sitting on the end of the runway still. 

Once he gets out, he goes back and pushed the tail of our Cessna 150 down until the plane is about at the attitude needed for a landing flare and tells me, "See where the fire station at the other end is in the window, thats where it needs to be."  Then he pushes the tail until it hits the ground and yells," Don't put it there!"

[1olehippy]

I learned at Dallas-Garland airport (which is no longer there). We took off over Jim Alee Olds then turn left toward the railroad tracks. When we were over the tracks, we turned downwind toward, and over, a twin drive-in theater (4 acres of asphalt is a glider pilots dream), turn base over a corn field, hold on tight while we lost the thermal from the drive-in, turn final over the LBJ freeway and make a well executed crosswind landing

[Mictheslik]

The usual.....towns (Runcorn specifically), Water tower, petrochemical work.

My favourite is what to watch when flaring on 27 at Liverpool. There's a massive white pub on the other side of the river that makes a rather good stationary reference

.mic

[beaky]

[quote]My story is a little different, but funny nonetheless.

My first lesson, we taxied to the end of Runway 5 (small quiet GA airport, no taxiway).

[Mazza]

[quote]My story is a little different, but funny nonetheless.

My first lesson, we taxied to the end of Runway 5 (small quiet GA airport, no taxiway).

[expat]

All well and good learning fixed reference points for a circuit, but how does that translate to landing a different field for the first time??

Matt

[Mazza]

All well and good learning fixed reference points for a circuit, but how does that translate to landing a different field for the first time??

Matt

It's really only for the local airfield, mem I just cheat and use headings occasionally. So, if I took off from RWY 22, I know the other end is RWY 04, so for downwind I would fly an 040 heading. Just requires simple math