Having received the runway in use and circuit direction when close to an airfield I do some hurried mental gymnastics to work out how to approach for a standard overhead join. I recently discovered the SD “Make Approach” function and was very pleased to see there is a “Standard Overhead” join option.

The first time I used it in the air was arriving at Enstone. I selected Make Approach, Runway 26, Standard Overhead. A nice big purple arrow appeared “for guidance on where to join” (to quote the SD video tutorial). I started heading towards the arrow, but after even more hurried mental gymnastics realised I would be joining from the opposite direction to that required and made corrections.

I have since used the same function arriving at other airfields and they are all wrong. According to SD a standard overhead join is approached from the dead side, with descent on the live side to join the circuit. According to the CAA a correct standard overhead join is approached from the live side, with descent on the dead side to join the circuit on the crosswind leg.

This is more than just misleading it is plain wrong. At worst, a pilot following SD’s guidance would conflict with a pilot doing a ‘correct’ overhead join. At best he would be joining high on the downwind leg and making a total hash of the circuit.

I’ve attached below a screenshot from SD and a CAA diagram of a standard overhead join to illustrate my point. Comments welcome – is there something I’m missing here?

Chris

I understand what you are saying Dave but I respectfully disagree. You are perfectly entitled to interpret “standard overhead join” as you see fit, but I prefer to use the CAA’s description. You can certainly join crosswind, but that is not a “standard overhead join”.

As per the CAA guidance, when joining overhead I always position myself as shown in the diagram – heading towards dead side – whatever direction I’m arriving from. This is quite clear from another CAA diagram (this time from the Skyway Code – attached below, with my red highlighting). It clearly states “If arriving from the other side of the aerodrome to that depicted, circle overhead so as to start from a similar position”. This is done well above circuit height, typically 2,000’.

In SD the dead side is indicated by the ‘shadowed’ rectangle. According to CAA (and me!) you should always join heading towards the dead side when conducting a standard overhead join, and descend dead side from joining height to circuit height.

You state “It's worth noting that the purple arrow shows your entry into the circuit from after you have joined overhead and descended dead side”. What is the source of that statement about the purple arrow? SD themselves clearly state that the purple arrow is guidance on where to join – not where to enter the circuit. Admittedly “joining” implies entering the circuit (what else would you be joining?), but I hope we could both agree that we are talking about the flight phase just before entering the actual circuit, at circuit height.

I am not intending to be confrontational but, again with respect for your viewpoint, I do firmly disagree. I think SD is great and would never willingly fly without it, but in this instance I believe it is wrong.

Chris