SESKStuff Everyone Should Know
SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/pilot-traffic-pattern-left

Unless otherwise indicated, which way are turns made in an airport traffic pattern?

To the left.

  1. To the left ✔
  2. To the right
  3. Toward the tower

Why: The AIM says that unless otherwise indicated, all traffic pattern turns are to the left. Right patterns are shown on charts or by traffic pattern indicators near a segmented circle.

Huh, didn't know that: Charts show right traffic patterns with the letters RP followed by the runway numbers.

The dad joke
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
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Sources

  1. AIM 4-3 Airport Operations https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/atpubs/aim_html/chap4_section_3.html
  2. AIM 4-3 Airport Operations https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/atpubs/aim_html/chap4_section_3.html

Test yourself in the game

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