"Bob Gardner" wrote in message news:GyVMb.43941$5V2.61806@attbi_s53...
I guess I read more into your original post than was there...I had this
mental picture of a bunch of folks using one runway while you used another,
which is your right to do.

Well, that is what wound up happening, but it wasn't so clear-cut
as several planes established in the pattern when I arrived.

It was very clear that the wind favored the runway they were using.

I still see it as a learning situation for any
students in the pattern

That's definately true, and I probably wasn't clear enough
about my point so let me try to restate it in a better way.

As a student, I had instructors say similar things to me along the
lines of "this isn't what a pilot ought to do, it isn't smart, but
it will happen so you need to watch for it". And I was very nervous
when I was in the pattern and other aircraft arrived and used a
different runway.

As a private pilot, one of the instructors I worked with
drew the traffic patterns for the two runways and we worked
our way around them with what altitude a plane would likely
be at at each point, and identified where the conflict
points were. It quickly became clear that barring unusual
behavior like a chap turning at 200 AGL, there are only a
couple of conflict points and they can readily be avoided
with a bit of care. So after that it was a matter of "OK,
when this happens, this is what I watch for and this is how
I should time it" and it was much less stressful to me.

I'm still less comfortable with our new home airport because
both runways have right traffic in one direction and left in
the other, and there are more potential conflict points so
it's not as clear to me how to time it.

That's what I meant when I said perhaps it's doing the students
a disservice to tell them it's unexpected and not smart. I'm
know you're right that they need to focus on the basics of what
is a pattern and what they should be doing when, but I think
it's a common enough situation that they should just be prepared
to watch for it and meet it.

Best,
Sydney