A hair-raising experience, I’m sure you will agree! I prefer to have a little more metal around me when I’m flying. However, whether you are learning to fly a microlight or a Boeing 747, circuits are an important part of learning to fly any new aircraft. Flying a good circuit is crucial to the safe operation of an aircraft and you will not be allowed to go solo until your flying instructor is absolutely certain you are capable of flying with the discipline required for operating an aircraft in the vicinity of an aerodrome. I flew what seemed like hundreds of circuits before I was allowed to go round once on my own. But all the frustration was well worth it and is without doubt the most magical event of my life so far.

The circuit is divided into five sections: upwind, crosswind, downwind, base, final

Flying A Circuit

1) Upwind – this consists of the take off and initial climb to 500 ft AGL. The type of aircraft you are flying will dictate flap settings and speed, but it is in this leg that you would clean up the aircraft such as retracting the undercarriage and flaps.

2) Crosswind – once at 500 ft AGL, a climbing turn onto the cross wind leg of the circuit is performed. Assuming you had taken off into a direct headwind, remember to adjust your course to account for the crosswind in this leg of the circuit. Remember flying an accurate circuit is essential as is keeping a good look out for other aircraft around the aerodrome. Approaching 1000 ft AGL, make the turn downwind.

3) Downwind – when you reach 1000 ft AGL level off – ATTITUDE-POWER-TRIM. Firstly set the attitude for straight and level flight, then reduce power to cruise level then use the trim wheel to get rid of any unwanted forces on the control column. Perform your pre-landing checks:

• Brakes (B)
• Undercarriage (U)
• Magnetos (M)
• Mixture (M)
• Pitch (P)
• Fuel (F)
• Flaps (F)
• Instruments (I)
• Carb Heat (C)
• Hatches/Harness (H)

BUMMPFFICHH

When wing tip is in line with the beginning of the runway, reduce throttle and hold back on the
control column so that you maintain your height while losing speed at the same time. You are
now ready to turn onto the base leg

4) Base – Reduce throttle in stages while applying flap to compensate for the loss of lift. In the Cessna 172 I flew when learning to fly, I was told to use full flap and an approach speed of 65 knots.

5) Final – With the aircraft now set up for landing, it is now a case of positioning yourself to land just past the threshold. The throttle should be adjusted in tiny amounts to ensure a gradual descent. For the purposes of this post, I am assuming a 5 knot headwind – perfect landing conditions for a light plane. We will deal with the complexities of crosswind landings in another post.

I hope this has given you a general idea of the tasks involved when flying circuits. For an in depth look at take offs and landings, please see the relevant post.

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