Amateur night at the field

Arrived at around 2200 last night IFR at our local field, and heard a pilot
doing position reports on the CTAF. I spotted the traffic (night touch and
goes), and also announced. As I established on final, she announced a full
stop, and then proceeded to land and taxi the whole length of the mile long
runway to go to her hangar.

Of course, this necessitated a go around, since there was no way I could go
slow enough to avoid landing while she taxied down the whole runway.

Then, as I was turning base, another slow mover said he was on a three mile
final to the runway. Even though I had already turned base, was inside him,
and going a lot faster, I elected to extend the downwind, since he had
announced his intention to land even though he knew I was on a tight base
leg.

I guess I was taught to exit the runway as expeditiously as possible at
uncontrolled fields, and also that planes on base or closer to the airport
had the right of way.

Isn't this supposed to be common courtesy, or am I being overly critical and
self righteous?

"Viperdoc" wrote:
Then, as I was turning base, another slow mover said he was on a three mile
final to the runway. Even though I had already turned base, was inside him,
and going a lot faster, I elected to extend the downwind, since he had
announced his intention to land even though he knew I was on a tight base
leg.

I don't understand this one. He's 2 miles behind you and slower. What
possible problem could there have been? Why not just continue your pattern
and land normally?

I also don't understand what you mean when you say you had already turned
base, but then elected to extend downwind.

I guess I was taught to exit the runway as expeditiously as possible at
uncontrolled fields

Controlled ones too.

and also that planes on base or closer to the airport
had the right of way.

In what way did the guy on 3 mile final violate this?

Sorry, to clarify, I had turned base and had him in sight, and announced the
same. He said "I'm on a three mile final and landing", and the tone of his
voice made it very clear that he did not intend to give way or slow down. I
turned out of base back to downwind and followed him in- it didn't seem
worth arguing over the radio or creating a traffic conflict, and I didn't
want to have him go around if it was too close, as had just happened to me.

I also forgot to mention that the first plane then announced she was
crossing the runway as he came down final. He called "where, where are you
crossing the runway?" Overall, he sounded kind of stressed and overloaded,
and it simply wasn't worth arguing over the air.

"Viperdoc" wrote in message
...
I guess I was taught to exit the runway as expeditiously as possible at
uncontrolled fields, and also that planes on base or closer to the airport
had the right of way.

Isn't this supposed to be common courtesy, or am I being overly critical
and self righteous?

AIM 4-3-20a says "Exit the runway without delay at the first available
taxiway", so that's more than just a matter of courtesy.

On the other hand, you were taught incorrectly about landing priority. FAR
91.113g gives the right of way to the aircraft on final approach (a
lower-altitude aircraft on base is not supposed to cut in front of one on
final if there's a conflict). If you had plenty of time to land before the
other aircraft came close, then there was no conflict and you could have
proceeded. But if there was any doubt, you did the right thing by extending
your downwind. In either case, the pilot on final did nothing improper.

--Gary

I agree in principle with your statement. However, the other pilot was VFR
and flying a practice ILS to the landing runway. His "final" was about 8
miles in length as he flew the ILS. He was in a Warrior and I was flying a
Baron, so there was a significant difference in speed.

While I easily could have turned in and landed well before him, why make
things tight and more stressful for him at night during a practice approach?
I decided to not force the issue and extended the downwind (a long way,
since he was relatively so slow). It was very clear from the tone of his
voice and his response to the other pilot's runway crossing that he was
getting pretty stressed.

"Viperdoc" wrote in message
...
I agree in principle with your statement. However, the other pilot was VFR
and flying a practice ILS to the landing runway. His "final" was about 8
miles in length as he flew the ILS. He was in a Warrior and I was flying a
Baron, so there was a significant difference in speed.

While I easily could have turned in and landed well before him, why make
things tight and more stressful for him at night during a practice
approach? I decided to not force the issue and extended the downwind (a
long way, since he was relatively so slow). It was very clear from the
tone of his voice and his response to the other pilot's runway crossing
that he was getting pretty stressed.

Yup, sounds like you did what was prudent and courteous.

--Gary

Yup, sounds like you did what was prudent and courteous.

Agreed. You probably could have squeezed in ahead of the Warrior
without much hassle but considering his tone on the radio I think your
extending downwind to slot in behind him was a good call. As for the
knucklehead that taxied down the runway necessitating a go-around, I'd
have had a tough time not saying anything on the frequency about the
lack of courtesy. I usually just bitch on the intercom when something
like this happens : ) If it's such an egregious show of stupidity
that I just can't help myself I'll have a word with the offender on the
ground and not on the radio.

Thanks for the input. I try to not be critical of other pilots, since I have
done more than my own share of bonehead moves.

On the other hand it's hard to not get frustrated, since we had just flown
nearly three hours in night IMC, dodging thunderstorms, picked up ice, got
bounced around, etc, only to have to go around because someone decided to
taxi full length even knowing someone was on final right behind her.

"Viperdoc" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the input. I try to not be critical of other pilots, since I
have done more than my own share of bonehead moves.

On the other hand it's hard to not get frustrated, since we had just flown
nearly three hours in night IMC, dodging thunderstorms, picked up ice, got
bounced around, etc, only to have to go around because someone decided to
taxi full length even knowing someone was on final right behind her.

You say she's hangared at the airport, so it might be useful to send her a
polite note about the problem, citing the relevant AIM passage.

--Gary

I try to not be critical of other pilots, since I have done more than my own share of bonehead moves.

I've had my own stupid pilot tricks too, I just figure that pointing
out a potentially dangerous (or just discourteous) maneuver might
comprosmise safety at some point. Since becoming a CFI I see things
from a different perspective.