Dico,

An “overhead pattern” is commonly used by the military to land a multi-ship formation of aircraft. I am told it originated from the early days of flying when engines were not very reliable and this was a way to ensure one could make the runway from any point near the airfield. The maneuver consists of flying over the landing runway in the direction of landing at a specified altitude (normally 1500 AGL for military birds these days, but could be different. OSH specifies an altitude (below) of 2,300’, which is 1500’ AGL at OSH.) While flying over the runway, at the break point (pilot’s discretion unless specified—as below—the pilot initiates a level, highly banked (60-80 degrees is normal for fighter aircraft) to downwind, in the direction or to the side of the runway specified (note that this will have you turning either left or right at OSH, depending on the runway you’re directed to. (In the case of a multi-ship formation, the last ship in the formation breaks to downwind abeam the landing point, followed at specifically pre-briefed timing intervals by the remaining aircraft, with the flight leader breaking last. Sure you have seen this at airshows; it allows recovery of many airplanes very quickly, but the original purpose—of being able to land from any point near the airfield—has, for most modern fighters, been lost. Few, if any, can make it to the runway from directly overhead at 1500’ and no power.) So the name comes from a “standard overhead pattern;” break at 1500 AGL at the approach end of the landing runway and continue a smooth, highly banked full circle to landing.

 

I didn’t mention speeds above because it’s very dependent on the aircraft, and the size of the pattern you intend to fly. Since the idea is to stay close to the field, the entry speed needs to be significantly higher than your intended landing speed, and well above 1.2 Vstall. For a Lancair IV/IV-P, 140-160 KIAS works well for me, with power set at 15” MP, and using about 50-60 degrees of bank. It is also within the flap extension speed, and close enough to the gear speed that you’ll slow to gear lowering speed during the turn to downwind, ideally abeam the touchdown point, where it’s time to extend the flaps and gear. The turn circle to downwind, because of the higher speed, will allow a lesser bank during the turn to final as you’re configured. While the first 180 degrees of turn should be level, you’ll need to (significantly) lower the nose as you continue around the second half of the 360 turn—you’re now configured at high drag and also in a 45-50 degree bank. I won’t start my turn to final unless I have 120 KIAS…and that’s a hard number for me.

 

THIS IS NOT SOMETHING YOU WANT TO TRY FOR THE FIRST TIME AT OSHKOSH! If you intend to use the Warbird Arrival, you MUST be ready for this alternative, so it would be critical to practice this before heading to OSH, preferably with someone who’d flown lots of overhead patterns (ex-military?).

 

Having said all this, I can highly recommend the Warbird arrival for our high-speed Lancairs. The “standard VFR arrival” very often slows to less than 100 KIAS, in trail, and a Lancair has no place to maneuver. Breaking out to re-enter at FISK or ever farther out puts you head-on to folks still looking for the arrival checkpoints, and I found it VERY uncomfortable...you will definitely see lots of airplanes in your windshield if you have to break out of the VFR arrival and re-enter. BTW, the “standard Warbird arrival” doesn’t include an overhead; it’s direct to the airfield from “Warbird Island”—which is in the Garmin database by the way—to align for a straight-in to the designated landing runway (usually 36L or 36R).  You can expect multi-ship formation arrivals to ask for the overhead; just because they do doesn’t mean you have to follow…unless directed to do so. (In multiple arrivals and local flying during AirVenture over the years, I’ve never been asked to make an overhead, but have always been prepared to do so).

 

You might also consider an IFR arrival. You’ll have to “reserve” an arrival slot time to do this, but it works very well, and has gotten me in a couple of times when they were diverting other aircraft due to arrival saturation, parking issues, etc. You then have the option to “cancel IFR” and proceed to Fond du Lac for the Warbird Arrival if it looks good to you…and the controllers may ask if you’ll accept a VFR arrival anyway. If they do, you want to be prepared to make it a Warbird arrival.  Dico, give me a call on this if you have further questions. I’d recommend you take an observer with you when coming to OSH for the first time in your Lancair. The airspace is very busy and the transition from cruise to landing happens very fast in our aircraft.

 

See you at Oshkosh!

 

Bob

 

PS: We expect to again have a designated parking area on the “show line” for Lancairs. More on this via the LML as the time approaches…

 

 

From: Lancair Mailing List [mailto:lml@lancaironline.net] On Behalf Of Dico Reijers
Sent: Sunday, December 02, 2012 8:01 AM
To: lml@lancaironline.net
Subject: [LML] OshKosh arrival procedures

 

Hi all,

Yes, I realize its pretty early to be thinking of OshKosh, however its just hovering around freezing here in YYG and I'm thinking warm thoughts....

I was reading up on the Warbird arrival as I plan to fly the IV-P down next summer and I'm wondering about the following bit of text.   Can someone please explain what this means -- the 360 overhead approach and what a "break" altitude is.

ATC may initiate a 360° overhead
approach to other runways as needed for
spacing. Break altitude will be 2,300’
MSL. Expect a break to the north for
Runways 9/27 and to the east for
Runways 18/36.