Controlling the Uncontrolled

Sharing the Skies

by Mel Futrell

With its long daylight hours and pleasant weather, summer often means the opportunity for cross-country trips and fly-ins. Many of these flights require landings at unfamiliar, uncontrolled airfields. This magazine routinely features non-towered airports. Of the more than 5,000 public-use and 8,000 private-use airports around the United States, only about 500 are towered. Even the towered airports revert to uncontrolled airfields when the tower closes, which can cause anxiety in some pilots. Operations at non-towered airports are more hazardous than their tower-controlled big brothers. About 78 percent of midair collisions in the traffic pattern occur at non-towered airports.

When operating without controllers, pilots often rely solely on radio communications and count on the announcements of fellow pilots to alert them of traffic. This is a dangerous habit because in doing so, they forget the primary safety technique at uncontrolled airports: see and avoid.

In addition to maintaining strict visual vigilance, adherence to recommended procedures at uncontrolled airports is crucial, yet many pilots fail to comply. Non-towered airports see their fair share of flight training, and these eager student pilots depend on the knowledge and practice of their more accomplished fellow aviators to demonstrate proper pattern work. If you are a little rusty on pattern etiquette and procedure, a review of the recommended procedures outlined in the FARs can go a long way. FARs 91.126 and 91.127 establish traffic-flow rules, and FAR 91.113 cites basic right-of-way rules. Also familiarize yourself with the Aero­nauti­cal Information Manual (AIM), particularly §4-1-9, www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/ atpubs/aim/aim0401.html, and FAA Advi­sory Circular 90-66A, which details pattern procedures, radio phraseology, right-of-way, etiquette, instrument procedures, and advice about non-standard arrival and departure methods.

Be sure to plan your arrival. Read the A/FD, study the chart, and identify your reporting points in advance. Enter the pattern via the recommended route, which is usually a 45-degree entry. It is not a violation of the FARs to enter other than “on the 45,” but it is not recommended. For example, very few IFR arrivals to non-towered airports come in on a 45. If you follow the recommended overfly and 45-degree entry procedures, the FAA cannot interpret your entry as careless flying if an accident occurs. In some cases, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and FAA officials have determined non-45-degree left-hand pattern entries to be in violation of FAR 91.113. Check the windsock to establish the active runway. (Remember the arms of the segmented circle depict the base legs of the pattern.) Be careful at part-time uncontrolled airports; pattern directions can change when towers close.

At minimum, self-report your positions over the field as well as on the 45-degree entry, downwind, base, and final. Keep in mind that VFR pilots operating at uncontrolled airports are encouraged to transmit their position and intentions on the common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF), but it is not required. NORDO (No Radio) aircraft that cannot communicate position reports may be sharing the pattern with you, so don’t assume a lack of report or response indicates a lack of consideration or etiquette. There may be several reasons why pilots do not communicate on the radio: they may be flying an antique airplane that does not have an electrical system to power a radio (one in five general aviation aircraft do not have radios), they may be on another frequency, the radios may be broken, or they may be deaf.

Deaf pilots often good-naturedly refer to themselves as “permanent NORDO.” Those with intelligible speech can transmit position reports, thereby advising other pilots operating in the vicinity, even if they cannot hear replies. A visual radio meter can alert a deaf pilot to anyone talking on the radio so he or she may avoid stepping on other pilots’ transmissions. Or if a hearing person is on board (whether a certified pilot or not), he or she can monitor the CTAF and pass on position reports made by other aircraft. The Deaf Pilots Association conducts an annual fly-in, open to all pilots and enthusiasts, that capitalizes on processes in uncontrolled airspace and at non-towered airports, while providing good, fun practice with alternative communications and grassroots pilot skills, www.deafpilots.org.

Reaching the field already at pattern altitude significantly increases your see-and-be-seen opportunities. If you’re flying a high-wing, arrive slightly high, and likewise, slightly low in a low-wing, to improve your visibility, but in no case compromise safety. Also, monitor the ground for shadows; you may see the shadow of another airplane merging with yours when you can’t see it directly. When departing, be sure to conduct full clearing turns on the ground to check for NORDO aircraft. Depart either straight-out or on the reciprocal to the 45-degree pattern entry (e.g. a 45-degree left turn after takeoff if a left-hand pattern is in use). Above all, employ your best see-and-be-seen skills.

Even when an airport is controlled, special-event traffic may call for a change of operations. Any pilot who has flown into the annual Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisc., knows the unique experience of following ATC procedures dependent upon a rainbow of dots, combined with reduced sequence and separation. This provides yet another example of the need for vigilance beyond standard audio communication. The EAA works with local FSDOs and the FAA to produce an annual NOTAM in effect for only the week of the fly-in. EAA’s website also contains a full complement of information designed to inform pilots and promote safety. For anyone flying directly into the airshow, familiarization with these modified procedures is mandatory, www.airventure.org/flying. Many vintage aircraft and other potential NORDO operations fly in to the annual event. Controllers at AirVenture are accustomed to a variety of aircraft and pilots with differing radio capabilities and have built-in procedures for NORDO operations, www.airventure.org/atc. As with operations at uncontrolled airfields, radio-capable departing and arriving planes cannot assume that everyone is “on frequency.” Our article on Greenville, Maine, in this issue offers an extensive discussion of the International Seaplane Fly-In, which, too, employs NORDO approach procedures.

Flying NORDO is not just about squawking 7600 in a lost-communications emergency. Structure collapses when pilots are not well-versed in airport procedures, etiquette, and communications. It only takes one confused pilot to generate chaos. Thorough familiarization with the techniques and practices associated with NORDO flying will help ensure that aircraft operations at “uncontrolled” airports are as structured, organized, and safe as at controlled airports.