Getting mixed up about runways and airports can happen easily, as Roy's post
shows, and it happened to me Friday.

I was picking up an Angel Flight patient at Jacksonville Craig (CRG). The
weather was VMC, I already new from a NOTAM that 14/32 was closed, and the
ATIS was advertising visuals to 23, so I don't have much excuse for what
happened. Here's how it went:

It was about 12:30 local and the airspace around Jacksonville was buzzing
with traffic of all kinds. I arrived on a heading of about 100 and The
TRACON had me at 4,000' coming into town. The airport was hard to see, but
I finally spotted the black strip about 10 mi. out. The freq. was so busy I
had a hard time telling the approach controller I had the airport in sight.
Now I was getting antsy because I was 5 mi. out and still at 4,000. I was
close enough to read the numbers when the controller finally answered,
cleared me for the visual and handed me to Craig Tower. Unfortunately, I was
looking at the brilliant, freshly painted numbers on closed 32, and I was
reading them upside down. Poor old beat up, worn out, active 23 was barely
identifiable as a runway. I was seriously fuddled, and didn't even realize
it yet.

Craig Tower told me to extend my downwind for traffic, which was fine with me
since I had altitude to lose, and I made a sharp right for the downwind to
what I thought was 23. In about 5 seconds a new, very authoritative-sounding
voice came on the freq:

"Cutlass '87D you were instructed to enter the downwind for 23. You appear
to be making a 360. You were not authorized to make a 360. Turn to heading
050 immediately!"

[Oh, dear. Oops. Oh, uh, yeah, 050 *would* be the downwind for 23, wouldn't
it? Ever use that heading indicator you've got, sport?]

"'87D, wilco."

There followed a couple of more careful instructions from the tower to get
the clueless dumbass on the ground without his hitting anybody, and that was
that. Talk about embarrassing; ugh!

Anyhow, that's what I get for taking routine things for granted, like
properly identifying your runway and making sure all your position
indications make sense. *sigh* Live and learn, I hope.
--
Dan
C-172RG at BFM

Did something similar last year at Youngstown OH - popped out of the
clouds, cleared for visual, getting ready for final and realized I was
about 90 degrees off in my orientation. Fortunately, the numbers were
clear before I got too close.

"Dan Luke" > writes:
> Getting mixed up about runways and airports can happen
> easily, as Roy's post shows, and it happened to me Friday.
[snip]
> Anyhow, that's what I get for taking routine things
> for granted, like properly identifying your runway
> and making sure all your position indications make
> sense. *sigh* Live and learn, I hope.

I was VFR into Sioux Falls, SD from the southwest
(coming from DEN). I called the tower and they
cleared me to land on runway 20 and report over the
city. I'm on a heading of about 020 and see a
runway straight ahead and figure this is a piece of
cake, but what's with the "report over the city"
thing? There's nothing but open country between
me and the airport.

After a few minutes more, the tower calls to ask if
I'm the plane heading toward runway 02. Oops!
Quick turn to do a left pattern over the city...

[I may have the numbers wrong since I write this from
memory and don't have an airport directory at hand.]

Everett M. Greene wrote:

>
> After a few minutes more, the tower calls to ask if
> I'm the plane heading toward runway 02. Oops!
> Quick turn to do a left pattern over the city...

To figure out where the approach end of the runway is I use the DG. You
were heading northeast, lets say about a 030 heading. Just look on the
DG to see where 200 is. Looking at the DG you see you'll have to enter
a downwind.

In article >, Newps wrote:
>>
>> After a few minutes more, the tower calls to ask if
>> I'm the plane heading toward runway 02. Oops!
>> Quick turn to do a left pattern over the city...
>
> To figure out where the approach end of the runway is I use the DG. You
> were heading northeast, lets say about a 030 heading. Just look on the
> DG to see where 200 is. Looking at the DG you see you'll have to enter
> a downwind.

But a 020 heading to runway 20 makes _sense_ in a perfectly logical but
totally wrong way.

KBFI (Boeing Field, Seattle) has parallel runways 13/31 L/R and if you're
even slightly dyslexic...


Morris

Newps > writes:
> Everett M. Greene wrote:
> >
> > After a few minutes more, the tower calls to ask if
> > I'm the plane heading toward runway 02. Oops!
> > Quick turn to do a left pattern over the city...
>
> To figure out where the approach end of the runway is I use the DG. You
> were heading northeast, lets say about a 030 heading. Just look on the
> DG to see where 200 is. Looking at the DG you see you'll have to enter
> a downwind.

The DG was reading 02!

This mental error is so common that psychologists even
have a standard name for it -- set. You see what you
expect to see, not what's there.

In article >,
says...

>
>This mental error is so common that psychologists even
>have a standard name for it -- set. You see what you
>expect to see, not what's there.


This notwithstanding, 02/20 and 13/31 have long been considered
mistakes waiting to happen.

G Faris

(I like the 13/31 L/R thing. Can easily see how that could get confusing)!

"G Farris" > wrote in message
...
>
> This notwithstanding, 02/20 and 13/31 have long been considered
> mistakes waiting to happen.
>

Try 2/20. Can't transpose what isn't there.