In article ,
A Lieberma wrote:

Was out doing approaches this morning to knock off the rust.

Called into JAN approach and requested ILS approaches into HKS under visual
rules.

Was 5 miles outside Brenz final approach fix and received the clearance;
Cleared for the ILS 16 approach or circle to land 34 Hawkins.

Exactly what is expected for a circle to land? Should I jog over to the
right of the runway on my descent and enter downwind? At what altitude?
The airport terminal is immediately to the right as well as the tower.

Winds were 290 at 8 knots under VMC.

Allen

With winds 290 @ 8, landing 16 vs. landing 34 means taking a 5 kt tailwind
instead of a 5 kt headwind. It's a 5400 foot runway; you didn't say what
you were flying, but I'm guessing 5400 feet is about 3 times what you
really need. On a real approach in IMC (especially at night), I'd take the
5 kt tailwind over circling to land any day.

But, if it's day VFR and you want to practice the CTL maneuver, you need to
negotiate with the tower. If you're the only one around, they'll let you
do anything you want. You can come down to the circling MDA of 940 MSL
(598 AGL) on the ILS. Once you've got the runway in sight, you can
maneuver to enter a left or right downwind at your option. If you have the
runway in sight higher than the MDA, you can (and probably should) do your
circling at that higher altitude.

In reality, if there's any traffic at all, the tower will give you circling
instructions.