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* *Where I fly (KLNA) that is too often simply impossible. *When you have
multiple planes in the pattern, the pattern tends to get bigger...much bigger.
I often fly at odd hours just so that I can practice things like you suggest,
but it is a skill that may do me little good if I am routinely forced to turn
final more than a mile from the airport.

* *I was first a glider pilot. *One of the first things we learn/teach in
gliders is that you never want to get caught simultaneously low and downwind of
the field. *When I started taking airplane lessons, I was amazed to find that
everyone was routinely flying patterns that were beyond gliding range of the
airport. *I am not just talking about the turn from base to final, I mean the
much of the downwind leg and the entire base leg!

Vaughn

True due to traffic you may have to fly beyond gliding distance of the
airport. The mistake I typically see when this happens is that the
pilot will start descending abeam the numbers. . Then they end up at
500 feet and a mile from the airport. I teach to stay at pattern
altitude until you are in a position to make a normal descent to the
runway. At least this way if you have a power failure you have a 1000
feet to work with, Which is the altitude we usually where we practice
power failures from.

Brian
CFIIG/ASEL