The Airfield and the Traffic Pattern

Drafted — not technically validated

Module revision 2 · How a military airfield is laid out, marked, signed and lit, how the runway in use, the overhead and the standard pattern work, and how to move safely on the ground. Written for military pilots of every US service: Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Army practice comes first. US civil (FAA) standards, which military fields share for most markings, signs, lights and tower rules, are supplementary, and civil towered and non-towered fields are covered as places a military pilot also lands. General radio technique and phraseology are taught in Radio Procedures. Carrier operations belong to Naval Operations.

Every figure is interactive. Start with the aerodrome at a glance, then follow an aircraft from the line to the runway, around the pattern and back.

Purpose and learning objectives

An airfield is full of standard information written on the ground, on signs and in lights. Pilots who can read it know where they are, where they may go and where they must stop, without needing anyone to tell them.

By the end you should be able to: work out a runway's number from its direction and tell parallel runways apart; read runway markings, including arresting gear and a displaced threshold; know which side of a holding position marking you must hold on; name each airfield sign by its colours; read runway, taxiway and approach lighting; read the Navy optical landing system's meatball and a PAPI; pick the runway most nearly into the wind and work out the crosswind; describe the overhead from the initial to the break and final, with the Navy and Air Force terms, fly the standard pattern, and know where helicopters fly; make the right calls to the right station at a military field and at civil towered and non-towered airfields; and read tower light-gun signals.

This is a conceptual reference for military pilots of all services. The military material comes from the Navy's air traffic controller training manual (NAVEDTRA 14342A) and a VT-10 training script, Air Force flying training wings' collision avoidance guides, the Army's airfield operations manual (FM 3-04.300) and NAVAIR's expeditionary airfield program. The shared US standards for markings, signs, lights and tower rules come from the FAA's Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM) and handbooks; military tower controllers work to the same FAA order, 7110.65, with each facility's own procedures added. [1, 9-18] [5, 1-19] Every military field publishes its own course rules, pattern altitudes and procedures, and those always take precedence. Other countries follow ICAO standards that differ in detail.

The aerodrome at a glance

Figure 1 shows a small aerodrome with the pieces this module covers. Select a part to read about it.

Figure 1 — Parts of an aerodrome (plan view)

Runway: the strip used for takeoff and landing. Runway markings are white. [7, 2-3-2.2]
Runway numbers: each end carries the number of its own magnetic direction, so one strip is runway 9 landing east and runway 27 landing west. [7, 2-3-3.2]
Taxiways: the paths between the runway and the apron. Taxiway markings are yellow; the centerline is a single continuous yellow line. [7, 2-3-2.2, 2-3-4.2]
Runway holding positions: four yellow lines across each taxiway entering the runway, with a red runway holding position sign beside them. You stop here unless cleared onto or across the runway. [7, 2-3-5.1, 2-3-8.2]
Apron (ramp): where aircraft park, load and refuel. Approval is needed before moving from it onto the movement area while the tower is operating. [8, 4-3-18]
Control tower: where one operates, pilots keep two-way radio contact with it, and a landing clearance from it is always required. [8, 4-3-2]
Rotating beacon: a military field's beacon alternates white and green with a dual-peaked (two quick) white flash between the greens; a lighted civil land airport alternates white and green only. [7, 2-1-9]
Segmented circle: where installed at an airport without an operating tower, it sits centrally and gathers the wind and traffic pattern indicators; pairs of landing strip indicators show the runway alignment. [8, 4-3-4]
Wind cone: its large end points into the wind. This one shows an east wind, so aircraft land on runway 9, toward the east. [8, 4-3-4]

Runway numbers

"The runway number is the whole number nearest one-tenth the magnetic azimuth of the centerline of the runway," measured in the direction of approach. [7, 2-3-3.2] A runway pointing 183° magnetic is runway 18; one pointing 087° is runway 9. For an azimuth ending in 5, such as 185°, the designation could be either 18 or 19. [8, 4-3-6.1] Each end is numbered for its own direction, so the two ends differ by 18: 9 and 27, 18 and 36. Read literally, the rule gives 0 for a runway pointing within 5° of north; such runways are numbered 36, a convention the AIM paragraph does not state.

Parallel runways add a letter, read left to right as seen on the approach: L and R for two, L, C and R for three. [7, 2-3-3.2] The same strip is "left" from one end and "right" from the other.

Figure 2 — Runway numbers explorer (plan view, magnetic north up)

Runway direction

Parallel runways One Two Three

Interactive figure unavailable. A runway pointing 087° is runway 9; its other end points 267° and is runway 27. Two parallel runways in that direction are 9L and 9R, which are 27R and 27L from the other end.

The numbers are drawn reading upright to a pilot on the approach to that end. Directions within 5° of north are shown as 36, by the convention described above.

Runway markings

Runway markings are white; markings for taxiways, closed areas and holding positions are yellow, even when a holding position is on a runway. [7, 2-3-2.2] Which markings a runway carries depends on its type. [7, Table 2-3-1]

Runway marking elements [7, Table 2-3-1]
Marking	Visual runway	Nonprecision instrument	Precision instrument
Designation	Yes	Yes	Yes
Centerline	Yes	Yes	Yes
Threshold	On runways used, or intended to be used, by international commercial transports	Yes	Yes
Aiming point	On runways 4,000 ft (1,200 m) or longer used by jet aircraft	Yes	Yes
Touchdown zone	—	—	Yes
Side stripes	—	—	Yes

Designation: the runway number, with any L, C or R. [7, 2-3-3.2]
Centerline: "a line of uniformly spaced stripes and gaps". [7, 2-3-3.3]
Threshold: longitudinal stripes whose number shows the runway width: 4 for 60 ft, 6 for 75 ft, 8 for 100 ft, 12 for 150 ft and 16 for 200 ft. [7, 2-3-3.8, Table 2-3-2]
Aiming point: two broad white stripes, one each side of the centerline, approximately 1,000 ft from the landing threshold. [7, 2-3-3.4]
Touchdown zone: groups of one, two and three bars in pairs either side of the centerline, coded to give distance in 500 ft (150 m) increments. Where a runway has them at both ends, pairs within 900 ft of the midpoint are left out. [7, 2-3-3.5]
Side stripes: continuous white stripes on each side of the runway. [7, 2-3-3.6]
Displaced threshold: "A ten feet wide white threshold bar is located across the width of the runway at the displaced threshold," with white arrows along the centerline before it. The pavement before a displaced threshold is available for takeoffs in either direction and landings from the opposite direction. [7, 2-3-3.8]
Demarcation bar and chevrons: a 3 ft wide yellow demarcation bar separates the runway from a blast pad, stopway or taxiway before it; yellow chevrons mark pavement aligned with the runway that is unusable for landing, takeoff and taxiing. [7, 2-3-3.9]
Arresting gear: military runways carry arresting gear, a pendant cable across the runway that an aircraft's tailhook engages to stop it. Where a cable crosses the runway, a line of 10 ft diameter retroreflective yellow disks is painted across the runway at the cable, and arresting gear signs, large yellow circles on a black background, stand on both sides of the runway beside it. [1, 4-9] The disks are 30 ft on center across the full runway width. Most emergency arresting gear sits in the overruns, its cable held above the surface by rubber "donuts", but some cables cross the operational runway near its ends. [7, 2-3-14] Each field publishes where its cables are. The Marine Corps takes the same idea into the field: an expeditionary airfield can be built from AM-2 aluminum matting with M-31 expeditionary arresting gear, its own lighting and terminal guidance, or be as simple as a grass landing zone for helicopters. [6, EAF]
Closed runway: yellow crosses at each end of a temporarily closed runway; a permanently closed runway also has crosses every 1,000 ft. [7, 2-3-6.4–2-3-6.5]

Figure 3 — Runway markings by runway type (plan view)

Runway type Visual Nonprecision instrument Precision instrument

Runway width Used by international commercial transports 4,000 ft or longer, used by jets Arresting gear cable Displaced threshold Blast pad before the runway

Interactive figure unavailable. A 150 ft precision instrument runway carries 12 threshold stripes, the designation, a centerline, aiming point stripes about 1,000 ft in, touchdown zone bars and side stripes. An arresting gear cable across it is marked by a line of five 10 ft yellow disks 30 ft apart, with a yellow-circle sign on each side.

Lengths are to scale along the runway (first 3,600 ft); widths are drawn four times larger so the stripes can be seen. The number of threshold stripes follows the AIM table. The length of each stripe, the centerline dash and gap, the displacement and the bar count in each touchdown zone group (3, aiming point, 2, 2, 1, 1, the usual FAA layout) are not in the AIM text, which gives only the 500 ft coding, so they are unverified. The arresting gear cable is drawn 1,800 ft past the threshold for illustration only; the disks and signs follow NAVEDTRA 14342A and the AIM, and the disk count is the most that fit across the width at 30 ft centers.

Taxiways and holding positions

The taxiway centerline is a single continuous yellow line, 6 to 12 inches wide. [7, 2-3-4.2] Approaching a runway at larger airports, an enhanced centerline adds a parallel line of yellow dashes either side for up to 150 ft before the runway holding position marking. [7, 2-3-4.2] Taxiway edge markings are a continuous double yellow line where the edge must not be crossed, or a dashed double line where the pavement beyond is usable. [7, 2-3-4.3]

A runway holding position marking is four yellow lines, two solid and two dashed, across the taxiway. "The solid lines are always on the side where the aircraft must hold." [7, 2-3-5.1] On a taxiway it shows where aircraft stop when they have no clearance to proceed onto the runway; at an airport with an operating tower, do not cross it without an ATC clearance. [7, 2-3-5.1] The same marking on a runway is used for land and hold short operations. [7, 2-3-5.1] An ILS critical area holding position is two solid yellow lines 2 ft apart joined by pairs of solid lines 10 ft apart. [7, 2-3-5.2] Where the holding position is wider than 200 ft, a red surface-painted holding position sign is added to the left of the centerline on the holding side. [7, 2-3-5.4]

After landing, exit at the first available taxiway or as ATC instructs, and taxi clear: an aircraft has cleared the runway when all parts of it have crossed the holding position marking. Then hold unless ATC has issued further instructions. [8, 4-3-21]

Figure 4 — Which side do you hold on? (plan view)

You are Taxiing toward the runway Exiting after landing

Aircraft nose position

Interactive figure unavailable. Taxiing toward the runway, hold on the side with the two solid lines. Exiting, keep going until every part of the aircraft has crossed the marking.

The aircraft is 30 ft long. Distances are not to scale.

Airport signs

Signs are coded by colour as well as by what they say. [7, 2-3-7–2-3-13]

Mandatory instruction signs: red background, white inscription. They mark the entrance to a runway or critical area, or an area aircraft may not enter. [7, 2-3-8] A runway holding position sign carries the runway's designation; "15-33" means runway 15's threshold is to the left and runway 33's to the right. [7, 2-3-8.2] An ILS critical area holding position sign reads "ILS". [7, 2-3-8.3] A no entry sign prohibits aircraft from entering an area, such as a one-way taxiway or a road that could be mistaken for one. [7, 2-3-8.4]
Location signs: black background, yellow inscription and yellow border. A taxiway location sign tells you which taxiway you are on, alone or with direction or holding position signs. [7, 2-3-9]
Direction signs: yellow background, black inscription, with arrows to the taxiways leading off an intersection. [7, 2-3-10]
Destination signs: yellow background, black inscription, with an arrow toward a destination such as a runway or the ramp. [7, 2-3-11]
Information signs: yellow background, black inscription. [7, 2-3-12]
Runway distance remaining signs: black background, white numeral: the thousands of feet of landing runway remaining. [7, 2-3-13]

Figure 5 — Sign decoder

Select a sign to read it.

Quiz: what kind of sign is this?

Interactive figure unavailable. Red with white text: mandatory instruction. Black with yellow text and border: location. Yellow with black text: direction, destination or information. Black with a white number: runway distance remaining.

Signs are drawn from the AIM's colour descriptions; their proportions and lettering are illustrative. The taxiway and destination names are examples.

Airfield lighting

At night the same layout is written in coloured lights. [7, 2-1-4–2-1-10]

Runway edge lights are white. On instrument runways, yellow replaces white on the last 2,000 ft or half the runway length, whichever is less, to form a caution zone for landings. [7, 2-1-4.2]
Runway end lights emit red toward the runway to mark its end for departing aircraft, and green outward from the runway end to mark the threshold for landing aircraft. [7, 2-1-4.3]
Runway centerline lights are white until the last 3,000 ft, then alternate red and white for the next 2,000 ft; the last 1,000 ft are all red. [7, 2-1-5.1]
Touchdown zone lights are steady white lights starting 100 ft beyond the landing threshold and extending to 3,000 ft beyond it or to the runway midpoint, whichever is less. [7, 2-1-5.2]
Runway end identifier lights (REIL) are a pair of synchronized flashing lights, one each side of the threshold. [7, 2-1-3]
Taxiway edge lights are blue; taxiway centerline lights are steady green. [7, 2-1-10]
Rotating beacons flash 24 to 30 times a minute at airports. Military airport beacons alternate white and green and are told apart by dual-peaked (two quick) white flashes between the green flashes; a lighted civil land airport alternates white and green only. [7, 2-1-9] In Class B, C, D and E surface areas, a beacon operating by day often means the ground visibility is less than 3 miles and/or the ceiling is less than 1,000 ft, but pilots should not rely solely on it to tell whether conditions are IFR or VFR. [7, 2-1-9]

Figure 6 — A runway at night (plan view)

Landing roll

Interactive figure unavailable. With 2,500 ft of an 8,000 ft instrument runway left, edge lights are still white and centerline lights alternate red and white; with 1,500 ft left the edge lights are yellow; in the last 1,000 ft the centerline is red.

Rotating beacon Military airport Civil land airport

Light spacing and the alternating pattern are drawn for clarity, not to scale. The beacon strip shows the order of flashes, not their timing; the lamp flashes only when asked and stays dark if your system asks for reduced motion.

Visual glide slope indicators

Most military runways, like civil ones, use the PAPI or VASI below. Naval air stations whose runways are used for field carrier landing practice (FCLP) also have an optical landing system (OLS), often the Improved Fresnel Lens OLS (IFLOLS), the same kind of system pilots fly to the carrier. It is installed abeam the touchdown point on the left side of the runway, and it gives glide slope information only: it does not show alignment with the centerline. [1, 4-25] Its parts are: [1, 4-25]

the meatball, or ball: a yellow light in the lens box, read against the datum lights to see where you are on the glide slope;
the datum lights: a horizontal bar of green lights each side of the lens box, the reference the ball is judged against;
the wave-off lights: flashing red lights, worked by the landing signal officer (LSO) during FCLP, which tell the pilot to go around;
the cut lights: green lights above the lens box, which the LSO uses to acknowledge control of an aircraft without a radio (NORDO).

"The ball rises above the datum lights as the pilot rises above the glide slope," and slides off the top of the lens box when the aircraft is more than 3/4° above it. Well below, the ball slides off the bottom; before then, a red lens in the bottom cell of the box turns the ball red, the low-ball warning. The glide slope angle is whatever the lens is set to. [1, 5-52] Flying the ball to touchdown, and the LSO's calls, are taught with carrier landings in Naval Operations.

A visual approach slope indicator (VASI) works by colour: each light unit projects a beam with a white segment in its upper part and a red segment in its lower part. [7, 2-1-2.1] Most VASIs have two bars, near and far, giving one visual glide path normally set at 3°. Its safe obstruction clearance extends within ±10° of the extended runway centerline and out to 4 NM from the threshold. [7, 2-1-2.1] A three-bar VASI adds a second, upper glide path, normally 1/4° higher, for high-cockpit aircraft. [7, 2-1-2.1]

The precision approach path indicator (PAPI), found at Navy and civil fields alike, uses the same red and white principle in a single row of two or four light units, normally on the left side of the runway. It typically gives safe obstruction clearance within ±10° of the extended centerline and to 3.4 NM from the threshold, and can be seen from about 5 miles by day and up to 20 miles at night. Do not start a descent using the PAPI until the aircraft is visually aligned with the runway. [7, 2-1-2.2]

A tri-color system is a single light: red below the glide path, amber above it and green on it. [7, 2-1-2.3] A pulsating system shows steady white on the path, steady red slightly below, pulsing red further below and pulsing white above, pulsing faster the further off the path you are. On some systems the on-path indication is alternating red and white instead. [7, 2-1-2.4]

Figure 7 — Reading the glide slope: Navy IFLOLS or PAPI (side view)

Indicator IFLOLS (meatball) Four-light PAPI

Lens glide slope setting Distance from the lights Height above the touchdown point

Interactive figure unavailable. On the IFLOLS glide slope the ball sits level with the green datum lights; above it the ball rises, more than 3/4° above it the ball goes off the top, and low the ball sinks and turns red in the bottom cell. On a 3° PAPI path a pilot sees two white and two red lights; three or four white means high, three or four red means low. At 2 NM a 3° path is about 640 ft above the touchdown point.

IFLOLS: the 3/4° top limit, the red bottom cell and the datum, wave-off and cut lights are from NAVEDTRA 14342A. The 3.5° default setting is an example, not a sourced value: the manual says only that the glide slope is set by the lens settings. Assumed, unverified: the ball moves in proportion to the angular error, the lens spans 3/4° below as well as above, and the red cell is the lowest fifth. Wave-off and cut lights are shown off. PAPI: the AIM depicts PAPI indications in a figure only (FIG 2-1-5), not in text: high (more than 3.5°) four white; slightly high (3.2°) three white, one red; on glide path (3°) two and two; slightly low (2.8°) one white, three red; low (less than 2.5°) four red. This figure reproduces those labels by giving the four units transition angles of 2°30′, 2°50′, 3°10′ and 3°30′. Those angles and the light order (white filling from the left) are this module's assumption, unverified against a text source. Angle = arctan(height ÷ distance), measured from the PAPI; the touchdown point is taken at the PAPI. Vertical scale exaggerated.

Wind and the runway in use

Military tower controllers, here as the Navy's manual puts it, select the runway most nearly aligned with the wind when it is 5 knots or more, and the calm-wind runway when it is less than 5 knots, unless a local runway use program, such as noise abatement, says otherwise. They issue the wind direction and speed with the runway, and call the wind "calm" only below 3 knots. Another runway can be used if it is operationally advantageous or the pilot asks for it, and the controller then states the runway number in the clearance. [1, 9-8–9-9] Civil towers apply the same 5 knot rule. [8, 4-3-6.2]

Without a tower, the airport may show the wind and landing direction on the ground. "The large end of the wind cone/wind sock points into the wind as does the large end (cross bar) of the wind tee." The small end of a tetrahedron points in the direction of landing; pilots should not use it as a wind indicator, and tower instructions supersede it. [8, 4-3-4] A segmented circle, if installed, gathers these with landing strip and traffic pattern indicators. [8, 4-3-4]

The part of the wind blowing across the runway is the crosswind component; the part along it is the head- or tailwind. For a wind of speed V at an angle θ to the runway, crosswind = V sin θ and headwind = V cos θ. A 20 kt wind 30° off the runway gives 10 kt of crosswind and about 17 kt of headwind.

Figure 8 — Wind, indicators and the runway in use (plan view)

Wind from Wind speed

Wind components on each runway end
Runway	Along the runway	Crosswind

Interactive figure unavailable. Wind from 120° at 12 kt: runway 9 is 30° off the wind, with about 10 kt of headwind and 6 kt of crosswind from the right, so it is the runway most nearly aligned with the wind.

Model: headwind = V cos θ, crosswind = V sin θ, with θ the angle between the wind direction and the runway direction, both in the same reference (here magnetic). Gusts, and any difference between true and magnetic in a report, are not modelled. Runway 27 is the example calm-wind runway.

The traffic pattern

Military airfields run two kinds of pattern: a standard (rectangular, or VFR) pattern and the overhead. In the Navy's words, every airfield has both; traffic normally flows left, with right traffic when required; the legs are upwind, crosswind, downwind, base and final; and a downwind entry joins at 45°. Altitudes vary with the station and its aircraft, so they are published locally. [1, 9-11–9-12]

Air Force: at Columbus AFB, a pilot training base, the VFR pattern is like the civil one except for the entry, where the guide singles out the civil 45° entry to downwind as the difference; aircraft turn crosswind about 1 NM past the runway. Each aircraft type there has its own runway side, pattern area and altitude band, and the T-6 pattern is run by a runway supervisory unit (RSU) on its own frequency. [3, Military traffic pattern] Single-engine jets and trainers also fly simulated flameout (SFO) or emergency landing patterns, high-altitude glides to the runway with very high descent rates. [4, Kelly Field; ELP]
Helicopters, the Army's and the Marine Corps' above all, may fly a pattern like the fixed-wing one but lower, at 500 ft AGL, and closer to the runway, or on the opposite side where airspeed or practice autorotations call for it, if local policy allows; landings away from the runway stay out of the fixed-wing flow. [8, 4-3-3] Army fields add helipads, hoverpoints and rotary-wing landing lanes. [5, 3-9, App. C]

The leg definitions and numbers below are the FAA's, which military towers also work to.

The traffic pattern organises arrivals and departures around a runway. It is a rectangle with turns to the left unless the airport shows right turns. [10, p. 8-1] [8, 4-3-3] Its legs are: [8, 4-3-3] [9, Traffic pattern]

Departure leg: straight ahead along the extended runway centerline after takeoff, until at least 1/2 mile beyond the runway end and within 300 ft of pattern altitude. An upwind leg extends it where needed for separation, spacing or sequencing.
Crosswind leg: at right angles to the landing runway, off its takeoff end. Turn onto it beyond the departure end of the runway, within 300 ft of pattern altitude.
Downwind leg: parallel to the landing runway, in the opposite direction to landing.
Base leg: at right angles to the landing runway, off its approach end, from the downwind leg to the extended centerline.
Final approach: along the extended runway centerline, in the direction of landing, from the base leg to the runway. Complete the turn to final at least 1/4 mile from the runway.

Altitude. At a Navy field, fly the altitudes in the field's course rules. At a civil field, propeller-driven aircraft enter the pattern at 1,000 ft above ground level (AGL); large and turbine-powered aircraft, a military jet included, at not less than 1,500 ft AGL or 500 ft above the established pattern altitude. [8, 4-3-3]

Spacing and turns. The downwind leg is flown approximately 1/2 to 1 mile out from the landing runway. The turn to base starts at a point approximately 45° from the approach end of the runway. [10, p. 8-3] When aircraft are approaching to land, the one at the lower altitude has the right-of-way, but it should not use that to cut in front of or overtake an aircraft already on final. [10, p. 8-4]

Entering. "Entry to the downwind leg should be at a 45-degree angle abeam the midpoint of the runway to be used for landing." [11, 11.3] From the upwind side, the Airplane Flying Handbook describes crossing over midfield at least 500 ft above pattern altitude, descending to pattern altitude about 2 miles out, and turning to enter at 45°. [10, p. 8-4] The FAA discourages VFR straight-in approaches because they raise the risk of a midair collision. [11, 9.11.1]

Leaving. Continue straight out or exit with a 45° turn, beyond the departure end of the runway after reaching pattern altitude. [11, 11.8] [10, p. 8-4]

Figure 9 — The rectangular traffic pattern (plan view)

Traffic Left Right

Arrive 45° to downwind Cross midfield

After the touch-and-go Stay in the pattern Depart straight out Depart with a 45° turn

Aircraft Propeller Large or turbine

Interactive figure unavailable. Left traffic for runway 9: take off east, turn left onto crosswind beyond the runway end, left again onto downwind flying west about 3/4 NM north of the runway, left onto base when the approach end is 45° behind you, and left onto final. Arrive at 45° to downwind abeam the runway midpoint.

Drawn to scale for a 5,000 ft runway with the downwind 3/4 NM out, the departure leg to 1/2 statute mile past the runway end, and base where the approach end is 45° behind abeam, which makes the final leg as long as the downwind offset. Turns are drawn square. The midfield crossing track is illustrative. No wind.

The overhead maneuver

"The overhead approach pattern is a series of predetermined maneuvers prescribed for VFR arrival of military aircraft," often flown in formation. It lets high-performance aircraft enter the terminal area alongside slower aircraft flying the standard pattern. The Navy's manual lists its components: [1, 9-13]

Initial approach: a line of flight along the extended centerline of the landing runway, 3 to 5 miles long, normally flown 500 ft above the standard traffic pattern altitude.
Break point: normally just above the landing threshold, where the aircraft turns 180°, left or right with the traffic flow, onto the downwind leg.
"The 180": after the downwind leg, a second 180° turn puts the aircraft on final approach; it stays at traffic pattern altitude until that turn starts. [1, 9-14] The training script's landing call names the pilot's position as abeam, the 180, the 90 or final, then reports the gear. [2, 33–34] This module takes the 180 as the start of that turn and the 90 as its midpoint, an interpretation the sources do not spell out.
Final approach: along the extended centerline to the runway.

The Air Force flies the same maneuver with its own words. At Columbus AFB the aircraft flies to initial, about 4 NM out on the runway centerline, crosses the runway at 1,000 to 1,500 ft AGL and "breaks" in a hard turn to lose airspeed onto the inside downwind, within 1.5 NM of the runway. After a touch-and-go or low approach a pilot can pull closed: climb and turn straight back onto the inside downwind instead of flying the whole pattern again. [3, Military traffic pattern] Altitudes are local: San Antonio's F-16s fly their overhead at 2,700 ft MSL. [4, Kelly Field]

The FAA's definitions say the same in more detail, and are what a civil field with an overhead uses. The tower uses an overhead maneuver where aircraft have an operational need for it, often at military fields. [12, 3-10-12] The Pilot/Controller Glossary defines it as "A series of predetermined maneuvers prescribed for aircraft (often in formation)" for entry into the visual flight rules (VFR) traffic pattern and to proceed to a landing. It is not an instrument (IFR) approach procedure: an aircraft flying it is VFR, and its IFR flight plan is cancelled at the "initial point" on the initial approach. [9, Overhead maneuver] The pattern usually specifies: [9, Overhead maneuver]

the radio contact required of the pilot, and the speed to be maintained;
an initial approach 3 to 5 miles in length;
an elliptical pattern consisting of two 180° turns;
a break point at which the first 180° turn is started, and the direction of turns;
an altitude at least 500 ft above the conventional pattern;
a roll-out on final approach not less than 1/4 mile from the landing threshold and not less than 300 ft above the ground.

Overhead patterns are developed at airports where aircraft have an operational need for them, and a standard overhead pattern does not rule out the conventional rectangular pattern. If the break point is not standard, the tower names it, for example "break at midfield". [12, 3-10-12]

Figure 10 — Planning an overhead break (plan and side view)

Break point Over the threshold (Navy normal) Midfield Departure end

Speed in the break Bank in the turns Downwind past the threshold Initial approach

Interactive figure unavailable. Breaking over the threshold at 250 kt and 70° of bank (2.9 G), each 180° turn has a radius of about 2,010 ft, so the downwind lies about 4,030 ft from the runway; starting the 180 2,000 ft past the threshold rolls out on final 2,000 ft out, more than the 1/4 mile minimum.

Model: both 180° turns are level, constant-speed semicircles of radius V² ÷ (g tan φ), with V the true airspeed in still air, so the downwind lies two radii from the runway. Real breaks usually slow down in the turn and descend from the downwind, which tightens the second turn; the side view simply descends in a straight line from the break altitude to a 300 ft roll-out. "Miles" in the glossary are taken as nautical for the initial and statute (1,320 ft) for the 1/4 mile roll-out. "The 90" marks the midpoint of the final turn. Speeds, bank angles and the descent are not from a source: use your aircraft's and your field's published numbers.

Talking to the airfield

Most of the above is the same at every airfield. What changes is who you talk to. At a military field you usually work tower and approach on UHF, which many civil aircraft cannot hear, [4, 2] fly the field's published course rules to the initial, and may talk to your own squadron or a runway supervisory unit on frequencies of their own. At a civil towered airfield the same tower rules apply in civil wording. At an airfield without a tower, there is nobody to clear you: every pilot broadcasts on one shared frequency and sorts out the traffic by announcing where they are and what they will do. This section covers who to call and when. How to make a call, say numbers and read back a clearance is taught in Radio Procedures, along with what to do when the radio fails.

Military fields

The calls differ by service and base, so this section and Figure 11 use one worked example: the Navy VT-10 training script, a complete T-6A sortie of radio calls from a naval air station. [2, 19–35]

Before taxi: copy the ATIS (preset UHF 1), tell the squadron's base frequency which aircraft you have and that you are taxiing, then ask ground for taxi with the ATIS letter. An IFR departure copies its clearance from clearance delivery first. [2, 19–21]
Departure: a last "going flying" call to base, then tower for takeoff, then check in with departure climbing, giving the altitude you are passing and the one you are climbing to. [2, 25–27]
Return: ask approach for the course rules with the ATIS letter, report the course rules point in sight, and switch to tower when told, by preset channel ("contact tower Button 4"). Call the tower at the point "for the break"; report the numbers; the tower approves the break. At the 180 report your position, "gear" and "stop", and get your landing clearance. [2, 31–34]
After landing: stay with tower until clear of the runway, taxi back to the line with ground, and tell base you are "in and up". [2, 34–35]

If you are not sure your landing gear is down and locked, tell the tower. It can call you by for a low pass in front of the tower and tell you what it sees; if any doubt remains, it alerts the crash and rescue crews and you make a precautionary landing, staying on the runway until ground personnel have checked the gear. [1, 9-6] An aircraft in distress has the right of way over all other traffic. [1, 9-9]

Other services' differences to know: an Air Force training base runs its trainer pattern through a runway supervisory unit on its own frequency, alongside the tower. [3, T-6] Air Force trainers practicing at non-towered civil fields monitor the CTAF, make position reports and normally fly low approaches. [4, ELP] Helicopters move on the airfield by taxi, hover taxi or air taxi: air taxi is preferred where conditions allow, below 100 ft AGL unless cleared otherwise, and a helicopter asks before hovering above 25 ft AGL. They can be cleared to take off and land away from the runway, and ATC will not issue a downwind takeoff with more than 5 kt of tailwind unless the pilot asks. [8, 4-3-17]

Civil towered airfields

Inside the surface area of a towered airfield you must keep two-way radio contact with the tower unless it authorizes otherwise. Make the initial call about 15 miles out. The tower then issues the instructions that shape your path, such as which leg of the pattern to join and what to report, and a clearance from the tower is always required before landing. Not every towered airfield sits in Class D airspace. [8, 4-3-2] Listen to the recorded airport information (ATIS) before the first call so you can say you have it; Radio Procedures shows how.

The airfield has more than one controller, each on its own frequency. Ground control handles the taxiways and tower (local control) handles the runway and the air around it. Departing, call ground control or clearance delivery before starting engines, stay on that frequency through taxi and runup, and change to the tower only when ready to request takeoff clearance. [8, 4-3-14] When departure delays are expected to exceed 15 minutes, gate hold procedures apply, and the call before engine start is how you get your start time. [8, 4-3-15] State your position on the airport whenever you ask for taxi, and read back taxi instructions; ATC must get a readback of every runway hold short instruction. [8, 4-3-18] After landing, stay with the tower until it tells you to contact ground, then change immediately and get a taxi clearance. [8, 4-3-14, 4-3-21]

Non-towered airfields

Where there is no operating tower, traffic advisories happen on the common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF). Where the airfield has no tower, CTAF or UNICOM published, use the MULTICOM frequency, 122.9 MHz. [11, 6.3, 9.6] All traffic, VFR or IFR, should at least monitor the CTAF. [11, 9.5] A UNICOM station, where there is one, may give you the weather and wind on request, but its operator is not required to talk to you. [11, 9.3]

The calls are self-announcements: call sign, aircraft type, position, altitude and intentions. [11, 9.8, 9.8.1] Start and end each one with the airport's published name, not the name of the town nearby, and use the runway number rather than "the active runway". [11, 9.8.1, 10.1] Avoid "to" and "for", which can be heard as numbers. [11, 10.3] Report your position, not your guess at the landing order. [11, 10.1] "Any traffic in the area, please advise" is not a recognized call; traffic that may conflict should answer an announcement without being asked. [11, 9.8.1]

Inbound: about 10 miles out, monitor the CTAF and announce your position, altitude and intentions; [11, 10.4.1] then announce entering the downwind leg, and each leg after it. [11, 9.11.2] A pilot flying a straight-in approach announces between about 8 and 10 miles out. [11, 9.11.1]
Outbound: monitor the CTAF from engine start, through taxi and after departure. [11, 10.4.2] Announce your intentions before taxi, and before entering the runway announce the runway and your direction of flight. [11, 9.5, 10.4.3] An IFR departure keeps monitoring the CTAF until it is in contact with ATC, and an IFR release is not authorization to take off. [11, 9.5, 10.4.3]

A part-time tower changes the rules with the clock. When the tower is closed, or operates only part of the day, use the published CTAF to self-announce within 10 miles. [11, 9.8] Check the field's published hours and frequencies before you go.

Figure 11 — Calls in and out

Airfield Military field (Navy example) Civil towered Non-towered (CTAF)

You are Arriving Departing

Interactive figure unavailable. Navy field, arriving: ATIS; approach for the course rules; the course rules point in sight, then tower by preset channel; the point "for the break"; the numbers, break approved; the 180, gear, stop, cleared to land; stay with tower until clear; ground to taxi to the line. Navy field, departing: ATIS; base, taxiing outbound; ground for taxi; tower for takeoff; departure, climbing. Civil towered, arriving: ATIS; tower about 15 miles out; report as instructed until cleared to land; stay with tower until told to contact ground; ground for taxi. Civil towered, departing: ATIS; ground before engine start; read back the taxi instructions; tower when ready for takeoff; stay with tower until it approves a frequency change. Non-towered, arriving: UNICOM or automated weather; self-announce on the CTAF about 10 miles out, entering downwind, on base, on final and clear of the runway. Non-towered, departing: monitor the CTAF from engine start; announce before taxi and before entering the runway; keep monitoring after departure.

Cedar is a made-up airfield with runway 27 in use and left traffic. The Navy field calls follow the VT-10 script's formats, moved to Cedar with the call sign KATT 11; preset channel numbers are the script's. The civil calls are examples in the formats the AIM and AC 90-66C give, with numbers spelled out as you would say them. Controller replies are typical, not quoted. Real controllers will give different instructions, and every airfield publishes its own frequencies and procedures. Not to scale.

Moving on the ground

At an airport with an operating tower, approval is needed before moving an aircraft or vehicle onto the movement area, and a clearance is needed before taxiing on a runway, taking off, landing or crossing any runway. ATC issues an explicit clearance for every runway crossing, and a taxi instruction to the departure runway is not a clearance to enter or cross it. [8, 4-3-18] Pilots unfamiliar with an airport can ask for progressive taxi instructions, and should remember that jet blast, prop wash and rotor wash can damage aircraft and equipment close behind. [8, 4-3-18] Who you call for taxi, and when, is in Talking to the airfield.

Towers control aircraft, vehicles and people without radios, or whose radio contact cannot be established, with a light gun: an intense narrow beam of a selected colour. Light signals can only approve or disapprove what the pilot is expected to do, and a pilot may not be looking at the tower when a signal is sent. [8, 4-3-13] Navy towers use the same signals for aircraft. [1, 9-10] At an FCLP runway the LSO has the lens's own lights as well: flashing red wave-off lights, and green cut lights to acknowledge an aircraft without a radio. [1, 4-25]

Traffic control light signals [1, 9-10] [8, 4-3-13]
Signal	Vehicles, equipment and personnel	Aircraft on the ground	Aircraft in flight
Steady green	Cleared to cross, proceed or go	Cleared for takeoff	Cleared to land
Flashing green	Not applicable	Cleared for taxi	Return for landing (to be followed by steady green at the proper time)
Steady red	STOP	STOP	Give way to other aircraft and continue circling
Flashing red	Clear the taxiway/runway	Taxi clear of the runway in use	Airport unsafe, do not land
Flashing white	Return to starting point on airport	Return to starting point on airport	Not applicable
Alternating red and green	Exercise extreme caution	Exercise extreme caution	Exercise extreme caution

Figure 12 — Light gun signals from the tower

You are An aircraft on the ground An aircraft in flight A vehicle or person

What does the signal mean to you?

Interactive figure unavailable. Use the table above.

The lamp flashes about once a second and its signal is named beside it. If your system asks for reduced motion the lamp does not flash.

Airfield terms

Runway designator: The number at each end of a runway, the whole number nearest one-tenth of its magnetic direction, with L, C or R added for parallel runways.
Threshold: The beginning of that portion of the runway usable for landing.
Displaced threshold: A threshold that is located at a point on the runway other than the designated beginning of the runway.
Aiming point: Two broad white stripes, one each side of the runway centerline, approximately 1,000 feet from the landing threshold.
Touchdown zone markings: Groups of one, two and three bars in pairs either side of the runway centerline, coded to give distance from the threshold in 500-foot increments.
Holding position marking: Four yellow lines across a taxiway, two solid and two dashed. The solid lines are always on the side where the aircraft must hold.
Mandatory instruction sign: A sign with a red background and white inscription. It marks the entrance to a runway or critical area, or an area aircraft may not enter.
Location sign: A sign with a black background, yellow inscription and yellow border. A taxiway location sign tells the pilot which taxiway the aircraft is on.
Caution zone: The last 2,000 feet of an instrument runway, or half the runway length if less, where the runway edge lights are yellow instead of white.
PAPI: Precision approach path indicator. A visual glide slope indicator of two or four light units in a single row, normally on the left side of the runway. Each unit shows red or white depending on whether the aircraft is below or above its angle.
Crosswind component: The wind component measured in knots at 90 degrees to the longitudinal axis of the runway.
Tetrahedron: A device normally located on uncontrolled airports and used as a landing direction indicator. The small end of a tetrahedron points in the direction of landing. At controlled airports, the tetrahedron, if installed, should be disregarded because tower instructions supersede the indicator.
Downwind leg: A flight path parallel to the landing runway in the direction opposite to landing. The downwind leg normally extends between the crosswind leg and the base leg.
Base leg: A flight path at right angles to the landing runway off its approach end. The base leg normally extends from the downwind leg to the intersection of the extended runway centerline.
Upwind leg: A flight path that begins after departure and continues straight ahead along the extended runway centerline. Upwind leg is an extension of departure and is used when issuing control instructions for separation, spacing or sequencing.
Break point: In the overhead approach pattern, a point, normally just above the landing threshold, where the aircraft is turned 180°, left or right depending on the direction of traffic flow, so as to be on the downwind leg.
Initial: The initial approach of the overhead pattern: a line of flight along the extended centerline of the landing runway, 3 to 5 miles long, normally flown 500 feet above the standard traffic pattern altitude.
The 180: In the overhead approach pattern, the second 180° turn, made after the downwind leg to establish the aircraft on final approach. The aircraft stays at traffic pattern altitude until the turn is started.
Inside downwind: The downwind leg reached by the break or by pulling closed, within about 1.5 nautical miles of the runway.
Pull closed: Climb and turn straight back onto the inside downwind after a touch-and-go or low approach, instead of flying the whole pattern again.
RSU: Runway supervisory unit. A unit by the runway that runs an Air Force training base's trainer pattern on its own frequency, alongside the tower.
SFO: Simulated flameout. A practice engine-out pattern flown by single-engine jets and trainers, a glide from high altitude to the runway with a very high rate of descent. Also called an emergency landing pattern (ELP).
Air taxi: Used to describe a helicopter/VTOL aircraft movement conducted above the surface but normally not above 100 feet AGL. The aircraft may proceed either via hover taxi or flight at speeds more than 20 knots. The pilot is solely responsible for selecting a safe airspeed/altitude for the operation being conducted.
Expeditionary airfield: A Marine Corps airfield built in the field. It can range from a grass landing zone for helicopters to AM-2 aluminum matting with M-31 expeditionary arresting gear, its own lighting and terminal guidance.
Course rules: A Navy field's published VFR arrival and departure routes, reporting points and altitudes.
Meatball: The yellow light of the optical landing system, read against the datum lights to see where the aircraft is on the glide slope. It rises above the datum lights as the pilot rises above the glide slope.
Datum lights: The horizontal bar of green lights either side of the optical landing system's lens box, the reference the meatball is read against.
Wave-off lights: Flashing red lights on the optical landing system, worked by the landing signal officer, that tell the pilot to go around.
FCLP: Field carrier landing practice. Carrier-style approaches flown to a runway equipped with an optical landing system, worked by a landing signal officer.
Arresting gear: A pendant cable across a military runway that an aircraft's tailhook engages to stop it. A line of yellow retroreflective disks is painted across the runway at the cable, and yellow-circle signs mark it.

Quiz: name the term

Check your understanding

Inbound to a Navy field on the initial. Where do you break, and how high are you?

Normally just above the landing threshold, turning 180° onto downwind with the traffic flow. The initial is normally flown 500 ft above the standard pattern altitude.

At an Air Force base you finish a touch-and-go and want another landing. What can you ask for?

To pull closed: climb and turn straight onto the inside downwind instead of flying out to initial again, if the pattern allows.

You fly a helicopter into a towered field with fixed-wing traffic. Where is your pattern?

Lower and closer: about 500 ft AGL and closer to the runway, or on the other side where local policy allows, keeping clear of the fixed-wing flow.

A line of yellow disks crosses the runway ahead, with a yellow circle on a black sign at each side. What is it?

An arresting gear pendant cable.

The meatball is above the green datum lights. Are you high or low? And if it turns red?

High: the ball rises above the datum as you rise above the glide slope. A red ball is the low-ball warning in the bottom cell of the lens: you are well low.

The LSO flashes the wave-off lights at you on an FCLP pass. What do you do?

Go around. The flashing red wave-off lights tell the pilot to execute a missed approach.

You are not sure your gear is down and locked. What happens?

Tell the tower. It can have you make a low pass for a visual check; if doubt remains, crash and rescue are alerted and you make a precautionary landing, staying on the runway until ground personnel have checked the gear.

A runway's centerline points 004° magnetic. What is it numbered, and what is its other end?

Runway 36, since 0.4 rounds to 0 and north is written 36. The other end points 184°: runway 18.

You are approaching three parallel runways numbered 27. Which one is on your left?

27L. Seen from the other end it is 9R.

A 100 ft wide runway: how many threshold stripes?

Eight.

You are taxiing toward a runway and see two solid and two dashed yellow lines. Which side must you stop on?

The side with the solid lines, which is yours as you approach from the taxiway. Do not cross without a clearance.

After landing you stop with your tail just over the dashed lines. Are you clear of the runway?

No. All parts of the aircraft must cross the holding position marking, the solid lines included, before you are clear.

The sign beside you is black with a yellow "B" and a yellow border. What does it tell you?

You are on taxiway B. It is a location sign.

The edge lights ahead have turned yellow. What does that mean?

You are in the caution zone of an instrument runway: the last 2,000 ft, or half the runway if that is less.

On approach, the PAPI shows three red and one white. What do you do?

You are slightly low. The usual technique, which is teaching guidance rather than AIM text, is to reduce your rate of descent until you regain two white and two red.

Wind 240° at 15 kt, runways 27 and 18. Which is in use, and how much crosswind?

Runway 27, 30° off the wind (runway 18 is 60° off). Crosswind 15 × sin 30° = 7.5 kt from the left.

Where and how do you join the pattern?

At pattern altitude, at 45° to the downwind leg, abeam the runway midpoint.

An overhead pattern's conventional pattern altitude is 1,000 ft AGL. What is the lowest altitude for the overhead?

1,500 ft AGL: at least 500 ft above the conventional pattern.

You are taxiing without a radio and the tower shows you a flashing green. What does it mean?

Cleared for taxi. A steady green would clear you for takeoff.

You are 15 miles from a towered airfield. Who do you call first, and what do you have ready?

At a civil field, the tower, about 15 miles out, having already listened to the ATIS so you can say you have it. Inside the surface area you keep two-way contact with the tower. At a Navy field you would normally already be with approach on the course rules, which hands you to the tower.

You have just landed at a towered field and cleared the runway. When do you change to ground?

Only when the tower tells you to. Then change immediately and ask ground for taxi, stating where you are.

Ten miles from a non-towered field. What do you say, and to whom?

Self-announce on the CTAF to the other traffic: airport name, call sign and type, position, altitude and intentions, ending with the airport name again. Nobody will clear you to land.

Departing a non-towered field: when do you talk?

Monitor the CTAF from engine start. Announce before taxi, and before entering the runway announce the runway and your direction of flight. Keep monitoring after departure.

Sources and applicability

Military sources

[1] Naval Education and Training Command, NAVEDTRA 14342A, Air Traffic Controller (Navy rate training manual), as published online on navyaviation.tpub.com. Inspected 25 October 2026, printed pages 4-9 (arresting gear), 4-25 (optical landing system), 5-52 (IFLOLS), 9-6 (landing gear checks), 9-8 to 9-9 (runway use, priority), 9-10 (light gun), 9-11 to 9-14 (traffic patterns, overhead) and 9-18; page links are in the review evidence. A US Navy training manual, reproduced by a third-party site; the edition date is not shown on the pages read.

[2] Training Squadron TEN (VT-10), "T-6A Checklist Study Guide ('Hollywood Script')", enclosure (1) to TRARONTENNOTE 3710, May 2022. Read the script (cnatra.navy.mil). Inspected 25 October 2026: radio calls pp. 19–35. Used for the format of Navy field calls; the review gate cannot reach this host, so claims resting on it are unverified.

[3] 14th Flying Training Wing Safety Office, Columbus Air Force Base, "Columbus Collision Avoidance: A guide to Columbus Air Force Base and the surrounding area", October 2013. PDF, as hosted by Tupelo Regional Airport. Inspected 25 October 2026: "Aircraft at Columbus" and "Military Traffic Pattern" sections. An Air Force wing's guide for civil pilots; dated, so treat its numbers as an example.

[4] Joint Base San Antonio, "Midair Collision Avoidance (MACA) Handbook". PDF (jbsa.mil). Inspected 25 October 2026: p. 2, the JBSA-Kelly Field and emergency landing pattern (ELP) sections.

[5] Headquarters, Department of the Army, FM 3-04.300, Airfield and Flight Operations Procedures, 12 August 2008 with Change 1, 21 April 2010. PDF (irp.fas.org). Inspected 25 October 2026: ¶1-19, 3-9 and Appendix C (the extractor did not reach the table text).

[6] Naval Air Systems Command, "Expeditionary Airfields". navair.navy.mil. Inspected 25 October 2026.

Supplementary: FAA sources

[7] Federal Aviation Administration, Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM), Chapter 2, Aeronautical Lighting and Other Airport Visual Aids: Section 1, Airport Lighting Aids and Section 3, Airport Marking Aids and Signs (faa.gov, current online edition). Inspected 25 October 2026: ¶2-1-2 to 2-1-10; ¶2-3-2 to 2-3-14 with Tables 2-3-1 and 2-3-2. US government work.

[8] FAA, AIM, Chapter 4, Section 3, Airport Operations: faa.gov. Inspected 25 October 2026: ¶4-3-2, 4-3-3, 4-3-4, 4-3-6, 4-3-13 (light signal table), 4-3-14, 4-3-15, 4-3-17, 4-3-18 and 4-3-21.

[9] FAA, Pilot/Controller Glossary: "Overhead maneuver" (O); "Threshold", "Traffic pattern" and "Tetrahedron" (T) (faa.gov). Inspected 25 October 2026.

[10] FAA, Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Chapter 8, Airport Traffic Patterns: PDF (faa.gov), pp. 8-1 to 8-4. Inspected 25 October 2026.

[11] FAA, Advisory Circular AC 90-66C, Non-Towered Airport Flight Operations, 6 June 2023: PDF (faa.gov), ¶9.3, 9.5, 9.6, 9.8, 9.8.1, 9.11.1, 9.11.2, 10.1, 10.3, 10.4, 11.3 and 11.8, and Appendix B. Inspected 25 October 2026.

[12] FAA Order JO 7110.65, Air Traffic Control, ¶3-10-12, Overhead Maneuver: faa.gov. Inspected 25 October 2026.

Page-specific excerpts are recorded in the repository review evidence: airfield evidence (Navy and FAA).

Figures 1–12 are original line drawings, not reproductions of any Navy or FAA figure, and are not to scale except where a caption says so. The wind, glide slope and overhead figures use the simple models described with them.

Applicability: military pilots of all US services first, with Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Army airfield practice from the military sources above, and the US (FAA) standards military and civil fields share as the supplementary reference, as published online on the inspection date. Civil towered and non-towered procedures are included for the civil fields a military pilot also uses. Every air station's course rules and published procedures take precedence, and other services, other nations and ICAO states differ in detail. This revision is Drafted pending independent source-backed review.