AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2024 - 88

RUDDER & WRENCH
At an airport like Astoria Regional Airport (AST), circling might be preferable to a long approach over open water.
reasonable option for most GA pilots), how
long has it been since you flew a circling
approach below low clouds and with limited
visibility? Can you confidently maneuver,
probably with a tailwind, close to the
runway and well below the standard 1,000foot
traffic pattern altitude? For example, at
Astoria, the circling minimum descent altitude
for the RNAV (GPS) RWY 8 approach
in a CAT A airplane is 660 feet msl-646
feet above the runway. At that MDA you'd
fly the downwind at an altitude typically
associated with a base leg. That's low-as
the Aeronautical Information Manual 5-4-7
explains, a circling MDA provides only 300foot
obstacle clearance within the protected
area defined for each aircraft category.
How will you fly the circling maneuver?
Advisory Circular 90-66C, Non-Towered
Airport Flight Operations, (paragraph
9.11.3) and several legal interpretations
from the FAA, such as the 2014 Krug letter,
emphasize that you must join and fly
the established traffic pattern for a runway
unless a procedure specifically calls for
another path around the airport. That is, the
regulatory left turns required by 91.126(b)
apply even when ragged clouds might
make an impromptu right-hand pattern
more appealing, unless ATC issues specific
instructions in Class E airspace.
An airport with crisscrossing runways
like Astoria presents a further challenge.
Suppose the wind favors landing on Runway
32 after you break out from an approach to
Runway 26. The shortest path to the threshold
of Runway 32 would be via a right base.
But the chart supplement doesn't specify
a right-hand pattern for that runway, so
91.126(b) still rules. AIM 5-4-20 adds that
while circling you should " maneuver the
shortest path to the base or downwind leg,
While circling, you must fly the
established traffic pattern even if a
shortcut is tempting.
A circling MDA is often well below the normal traffic pattern altitude.
88
AOPA PILOT / June 2024

AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2024

Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2024 - Intro
AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2024 - Cover1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2024 - Cover2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2024 - Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2024 - 2
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2024 - Cover3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2024 - Cover4
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