Traffic Patterns and Airport Operations

A standard traffic pattern uses left turns and is flown as upwind, crosswind, downwind, base, and final, usually at 1,000 feet above the airport. Some fields use right-hand patterns, shown by the segmented circle or the Chart Supplement, so you confirm the direction before arriving. Where the airport differs is control. At a tower-controlled airport you talk to a controller and follow instructions to taxi, take off, and land. At a non-towered airport there is no controller: pilots self-announce on the CTAF and use standard procedures to fit themselves into the flow, and a UNICOM operator may offer advisories but not control instructions. Land and hold short operations, or LAHSO, ask you to land and stop before an intersecting runway or point to keep traffic separated. You accept only if you are sure you can stop within the published available landing distance, and you may always decline; student pilots are generally advised not to accept LAHSO.