Tight patterns?

In article ,
(Bob Martin) wrote:

Anyone else here like to fly a tight (or tighter than normal) pattern?

The field we're based at (Falcon Field, FFC) has a pretty good-sized
training operation, and there are a lot of students out practicing
landings, especially on good days. What annoys me, though, is that
some of these students fly huge patterns--like 2-mile finals,
downwinds 1-2 miles out from the runway, etc. Sometimes, I'll end up
behind somebody in the pattern, only to realize that, by the time he
turns final, I could have done another touch and go and ended up
behind him.

IMHO, there's no reason to go flying a jet/heavy twin pattern in a
Cessna. I've always tried to fly mine 4 white on the PAPI, with
basically a continuous turn from downwind to final (leveling out for a
second just to check traffic).

AMEN! Here around Daytona Beach, we call them "Riddle Patterns." I fly
a high-performance antique and do a lot of overheads (usually as part of
a formation). I try to keep it in tight enough to make the runway even
dirty, power off. The result is keeping to less than 1/2 mile from the
runway.