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AviationTraffic patterns
You fly the traffic pattern of the airport or seaplane base: the right entry and legs, the wind correction on every leg and the spacing from the other traffic. It is Task B of Area III, Airport and Seaplane Base Operations, in the FAA Private Pilot Airman Certification Standards, the checkride every private pilot flies.
Free to startThe steps
- Identify and interpret the runways, taxiways, markings, signs and lighting of the airport or seaplane base.
- Comply with the recommended traffic pattern procedures.
- Correct for wind drift to keep the proper ground track.
- Keep your orientation with the runway or landing area in use.
- Hold traffic pattern altitude within 100 feet and the appropriate airspeed within 10 knots.
- Keep your situational awareness and the proper spacing from other aircraft in the pattern.
Safety rules that stop the station
- Any action, or lack of action, that makes the examiner step in to keep the flight safe is unsatisfactory.
- Not clearing the area with a proper visual scan before and during the maneuver is unsatisfactory.
- Consistently exceeding the tolerances of the task, or not correcting promptly when you exceed them, is unsatisfactory.
To pass
- Pattern altitude within 100 feet, airspeed within 10 knots, the ground track corrected for wind and the spacing kept.
- Know towered and nontowered airport operations, choosing the pattern for the conditions, the right-of-way rules, automated weather and airport information, and the risks of collision, distractions, windshear and wake turbulence.
- Missing the standard on this task fails the task and its area of operation.
Official source
Federal · FAA Private Pilot ACS
Private Pilot for Airplane Category Airman Certification Standards (FAA-S-ACS-6C)
The FAA publishes the Private Pilot Airman Certification Standards free: every task of the checkride with its knowledge, risks and tolerances.
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