I just took my commercial checkride a few feeks ago. I was taught by my
instructor to overly a non-towered airport by tpa+500ft (or more),
proceed away from the airport WITHOUT descending and then enter the
pattern( i.e. enter 45 and descent to TPA). On my checkride the
Examiner also expected this. I was taught that the key is to not
descent to or below TPA unless you are commiting to landing, which
means adhering to FARS and AIM procedures. Flying over the Field at or
below TPA just to take a look may be considered famously "careless and
reckless". I can't find it at the moment, but my instructor showed me
the TPA+500 rule in the AIM or FARs. In all of my instrument and
private training somehow the overly the airport rule was missed. The
Examiner explained that just because YOU might know what you are doing,
every other pilot will be expecting everone to be following standard
procedures. When pilots deviate, not matter how well they think they
are communicating their intentions, accidents frequently happen. Who
expects someone to be cutting across the field a few hundred feet below
them while on downwind?

Above all it's probably best ot use common sense. At Bremerton Airport
near me, there are so many training aircraft and pilots who forget to
announce position, chaos, etc, I am hesitant to overfly the field at
all. Since I know the area well, I feel it's safer to not overfly. At a
new airport or one that has wildlife that frequents the field makes
more sense.

Just my two cents. Good post!

I had no idea that a flyover of the runway was illegal. But here you go:



"After making two flyovers - a common, but illegal maneuver in which the
pilot flies low over the runway - he made the five-minute flight to
Rountree where he normally purchased fuel, said airport employees.

According to an investigator with the Federal Aviation Administration,
before landing, he conducted another flyover, but stalled, crashing
nose-down just beyond the tree line in an open field east of the runway.

The crash was reported at approximately 8 a.m. by a resident who saw the
wreckage as he left for work, according Hartselle Police."


"Veteran-flyer Tom Coggin, 67, of Cullman, died instantly when his RV-6,
two-seater aircraft crashed on private property near Rountree Field,
Hartselle's municipal airstrip."

"Deadly Flight" - Cullman Times July 25 2006

http://www.cullmantimes.com/homepage...picturestor y