How to Fly the Pattern Without Making an #@$ of Yourself

For some reason, pilots often make a hash of flying the traffic pattern with especially nasty arguments over straight-in approaches. In this descent into animated madness, AVweb's Paul Bertorelli takes a humorous look at the issues.For Ercoupe and Mooney owners, the thin-skinned and the humorless, viewer discretion is advised. All others, Happy 2021!

[@zorkleplex5]

My teenage children who barely acknowledge my existence actually came to see what I was laughing so hard at!

[@roderickcampbell2105]

I believe it. One of the funniest video's I've ever seen. Paul at his best. Well I did love the "cheap pilot bastard" clip. And after all the humour and information, then great music. And closes with more dry humour. Long live Paul. I hope your children liked the video too.

[@spinnetti]

are all teens like that? I'm not sure mine are even alive. They only come out of their rooms for food. Next, how do I find an instructor that isn't a bitter old man who resents having to try to teach me?

[@venusreena2532]

@@spinnetti ... cant hurt to engage the teens.. dont wait for them to come to you..

[@autumnbeds]

@@spinnetti Any luck w/ the instructor?

[@ZhihengCao]

This is nothing to laugh at, it can cause instant death! In flying fire and mid air collision are the two things to be truly afraid of.

[@JustPlaneSilly]

Why have 50 people from my local airfield emailed me this video? Weird.

[@deeanna8448]

This channel is what led me to your channel

[@circuitmonkey6653]

BWAHAHA! "*Censored* traffic, Grum-Grum 7JB, 60m final, *Censored*"

[@dntower85]

Paul completely missed having SUV's driving on the north end of the airport. :)

[@romesprofitchannel7881]

0:41 Fast Win Money🎰 kzbin.info/www/bejne/f5LFeZ6Keq91fc0

[@safetyinstructor]

@@dntower85 don't joke about that. SUV drives are always in the right, never forget that.

[@FlyingNDriving]

I find the lack of cirrus parachute deployed animations in this completely disturbing and unrealistic!

[@flyyourdream9716]

Hahahahahahahahahahaha

[@tropicthndr]

I wonder what the chute has been pulled for the most in the Cirrus, stalls to final or engine failures, because there’s a ton of both.

[@ganthrithor]

They probably didn't remove the arming pin on pre-flight.

[@charlesbranch4120]

There was a video uploaded by a Cirrus owner/pilot some years ago that was hilarious. Anytime he moved anything anywhere, the nagging alarming voice activated. "Are you sure you want to do that? Pull the parachute now!"

[@1mouseman]

Possibly the best KZbin comment in history

[@geraldmartsy2165]

My new year's resolution is don't disappoint Paul Bertorelli. He's the father I never had to constantly seek approval from.

[@wheelerdavea]

Loved seeing Car 54. Only us 79 year old pilots that can't hear will recognize it. Well done. Oh, and the FedEx truck taking out the UPS wing was classic. Thanks Paul.

[@terryboyer1342]

Dave Wheeler Where are you?

[@wheelerdavea]

@@terryboyer1342 Ou Ou!

[@182driver]

Don’t forget lake sully

[@77thTrombone]

I thought they took each other out. I guess since Dave can't hear he missed the tinkl of broken glass.

[@davidoickle1778]

I don’t know about that, I’m 75 and I got it.

[@winforworkgroups]

This animator needs a raise! (Oh right)

[@Ichinin]

Informative and hilarious. Didn't know that "Lake sully" existed :D Don't forget about the "Harrison Ford option" when landing. Btw all those cars intermixed with Air planes on the road reminds me of Microsoft Incursion Simulator 2020.

[@charlesbranch4120]

I know the Harrison Ford Option: Land where you know you'll find the doctors that will respond immediately Before the 19th Hole is preferable.

[@junqueboi387]

I hope you had as much fun making this as I did watching it.

[@timstreetrealestate]

I'm wiping tears from my eyes, that was one of the greatest aviation segments I've seen - but the text at the end! Holy crap, straight out of the opening credits of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. That was some of the funniest shit I've seen in years, well done guys! Who know y'all would be able to bring such humor to an otherwise dry topic and yet teach me something anyway. Hot damn.

[@geoffeg]

The amount of effort that went into making this video is impressive. Well done.

[@BlaineNay]

This 11-minut video took 30 minutes to watch! (19 of them going through the credits/acknowledgement.) Nice job!

[@mbbyair]

Paul’s been in the eggnog again..::

[@Skybusdriver]

I’m a Navy pilot and your channel is hilarious. This is a great refresher for me!

[@PelDaddy]

I don't know what the hell then end animation was, but it was oddly captivating, and now I want a margarita and some burritos.

[@FlightSimHistorian]

Came for the thumbnail, stayed for the laughs!

[@eddiexoc8430]

Great video. Had to play 7:45 to the end several times. We definitely need to go outside & enjoy life.

[@spurgear4]

I was practicing doing forced approaches once in the mighty cessna 152 and had my flaps stay fully down with the flap switch selected to the retract position. I made a straight in approach slightly below circuit altitude, I was the only one in the air because I lived in Nova Scotia, and no one cared.

[@kevinheard8364]

oh, wow... my wife is from Yarmouth :)

[@spurgear4]

@@kevinheard8364 I grew up in New Glasgow, been to Yarmouth a few times during the opening of the lobster fishery, I was a helicopter mechanic working search and rescue. The pub there was the red kight, or lion, your wife may remember.

[@captainkidd1234]

I’m in Nova Scotia. Have to agree with “and no one cared.” LOL

[@1mouseman]

Ricky and Bubbles care!

[@spurgear4]

@@1mouseman I miss Mr Lahey

[@FlyingNDriving]

"Annnnnnnnnd, any traffic please advise"

[@JoseRivera-lt2cc]

Smiled start to finish. Have experienced all of the examples ... of course all by others except for my one very own NORDO at uncontrolled home base. Luckily (?), radio issue transpired midway transiting Class Bravo airspace. Better news, using transponder ident with controller notifying I could hear, I was informed no traffic reported at field. Still, my head went into beacon mode - swiveled 360 until on ground & parked with engine off. Thanks for sharing your sense of humor approach to very serious issues. Much appreciated. Happy New Year.

[@sleektruck22]

Paul(s), I have got to say, y'all make the best aviation videos on the internet. Learn more here than I did in flight school and all made in a humorous yet comprehensible way. Keep up the good work!

[@WilliamsWings]

That paramotor hitting lines was hilarious. Flew them for years and it's true! Can't see the lines and were usually flying low...

[@yanDeriction]

Avweb makes the best aviation videos hands down. Other channels may have slick production, this channel has the SOUL!

[@iflycentral]

I'm happy I'm not the only one with that impression of Ercoupe pilots.

[@alanjwalker249]

Absolutely genius. A very funny look at a serious topic. The animation at the end was Monty Pythonesque. Great work and the funniest aviation content I have seen in a long time.

[@SmokingBeagles]

The animation at the end is truly hilarious, the mariachi band was a nice touch

[@bhi7165]

I demand, uh, respectfully and admirably request, more videos from Paul.

[@jonathanshirer2395]

Brilliant. Just because flying is serious business, it doesn't mean it can't be funny. Which you prove all the time, Paul.

[@dtvconsult]

“Car 54, where are you?” Love the reference!

[@FatGuyInaTruck]

The FedEx truck clipping the wing of the UPS plane was a nice touch.

[@adrianpad]

ROFLMAO the animation at the end LAKE SULLY XD HAHAHAHAHA OMG so many gems in it!

[@prof.heinous191]

So have I got this right, Ercoupe pilots are like Volvo drivers in the sky?

[@aarongutierrez1597]

That FedEx driver literally drove the Wrong Way just to clip that United Package Smasher 😂

[@JE-dv2ms]

This was awesome and should count as my BFR. I would like to take this opportunity to plug a few things. 1) if you're post licensing, keep you patterns tighter, I don't want to be 2.5 miles abeam.the numbers. For all the students out there, do what you instructor tells you to do, even if they are wrong. 2) We should allow straight ins into the downwind like ICAO does. 3) The overhead is an ideal entry pattern. 4) Oval racetrack patterns within 3/4 of a mile are the gold standard of pattern flying.

[@UncleWiggy252]

I always admire the guy on a straight in final at 4 miles who says "Cessna blah blah blah on left downwind runway ___". Then at a 2 mile final says "Cessna blah blah blah left base ___". Eventually he, of course, tells the truth on final after everyone else has had their head on a swivel for the last five minutes. In the end no one is terribly surprised to finally see a Warrior pull off the runway!

[@aviation3530]

I love all your videos, this one is particularly hysterical. Too many pause and rewinds to count. The only thing missing was an Airbus being decorated with Christmas 🎄 decorations while on final. 2020

[@TheAirplaneDriver]

Laughed my ass off the whole time I watched this! Loved seeing officers Muldoon and Toody standing by in Car 54. Great job! I’m guessing the 42 people that gave it a thumbs down are pilots that really need to pay attention to what you are trying to say. Or, maybe they are all FAA employees?

[@marklawton1795]

Best entertainment ever ! Do more please. 🎉. Love my Mooney - don’t do drugs. 😂

[@mikelong9638]

Truthfully one of the best traffic pattern videos I've ever watched. Most just regurgitate the language in the AIM. It also made me laugh so hard that I spit coffee all over my computer screen.

[@DavidReese2ndA]

I'm glad they put Mooney's in there!

[@michaelwiggins3663]

This made me laugh more than any TV level production in years...and was still highly informative. All training should be done this way

[@SIGINT007]

The highway landing sequence is gold. I had to watch it twice to pick out all the nuances.

[@TheBullethead]

I think this vid is provides the highest level of good info combined with witty snark of any in the sainted halls of AVweb. Brilliant!

[@rolandocrisostomo2003]

Very nice graphics. No complaints here. And the information is priceless.

[@teamground0229]

Paul, I love the dry sense of humor. The animation to the spicy music very funny!

[@ClintonRyanThompson]

Love it! Happy 2021!

[@rceric1]

This video made my day, thank you!

[@Steeyuv]

Mine too, and I’m under EASA rules.

[@ZeeCaptainRon]

Pilot: boy that was a short runway. Pax: Yeah but look how wide it is.

[@johnlibra7734]

So well written! Great graphics. Excellent,

[@ajnaguy]

Was Harrison Ford in there somewhere, or did I just miss seeing him? :)

[@jeffshafer9079]

Taxiway != Runway

[@ValentinoDagher]

I like how Paul's yellow cub was featured at the end.

[@MegaMech]

Wow... That ending... avweb hilarious as always.

[@jeffohmart7053]

Do you have a law enforcement background? This is made in the same spirit as many, many officer-made "training" videos. Love it!

[@ZeeCaptainRon]

Way back when I was taking lessons and was chatting with instructor at the local FBO and heard a guy calling out his landing over the radio. We looked outside and nothing there,kept hearing his calls and finally the final, still no one there. We thought maybe wonder woman had her invisible jet stolen. Turns out the guy was landing at Pearson about 5 miles west and not Evergreen (where we were) and was on the wrong freq.

[@B1970T]

I loved the Fedex truck tearing off the wingtip of the UPS plane. I hope that didnt delay any vaccine deliveries. Lol! This was so hilarious! Keep it up!

[@MarekKnappe]

My instructor always said to overfly the airfield at +500ft, descend on dead side and join corsswind/mid-crosswind as the safest way

[@Joey4420]

Spawn of Satan - Ercoupe? Now I worry about Paul, or maybe it is all the pilots that have never flown one? Loved the credits.... even the Ercoupe part.

[@mattrussell8915]

Paul Bertorelli is a public treasure.

[@koroba01]

As an aviation enthusiast this was fully enjoyable and quite funny! I should mention that no B-17s were harmed in the making of this video...

[@aethon6335]

One of the best videos on the Tube. Thank you for sharing.

[@sfduve]

Holy hell, my wife is considering calling the straight jacket brigade because I’m laughing hysterically 😅

[@narratordru7188]

Love it! Only thing you forgot to add at the end is a drone being eaten by a jet engine.

[@mbazzy123]

I am not a pilot and I found this to be very funny, nice job !

[@Cheepshooter14]

I like that "Good Taste" waws grayed out in the menu options.

[@JoeRantCT]

Ha haha. This guy's hysterical. Didn't expect the narrator to be talking the same we do in real life. I learned that I am doing one thing I shouldn't do, but I'm not going to change. A good percentage of airplanes are "white Cessna's" or Pipers. Most airplanes are white. It doesn't clog the freq to mention your last N numbers. I think it helps give a clearer picture of which airplane is where.

[@DeereX748]

I wish I could have given this one a half-dozen more likes

[@tktailslideproductions7280]

This video was way more entertaining than it had any right to be

[@jefmatttab]

I find this humor to be very refreshing

[@1972C182]

Brilliant. And that Car 54 reference tremendous--now that is knowing one's target audience.

[@theflyingfool]

2:29 that FAA diagram is a mess. Who does them? Disney? I have to reiterate that your deadpan humour is outstanding!

[@flyyourdream9716]

This is a great video haha, it should be included in basic training.

[@istvanbardi]

What a fantastic explanation. This video needs to be dubbed in Hungarian!

[@wezpa]

This is the best KZbin channel.

[@CorbinAce]

This is one cool video. I think I have to watch this again tomorrow. The last 4 minutes looks like Orlando International. Freeways under and over. LOL All these silly mishaps bring on fond memories.

[@DColcla]

Classic! Love this video and the narrator!

[@guard13007]

That animation at the end is horrifying.

[@bensonmilam6022]

The radio on 121.5 got me😂😂😂

[@danielrichardbond]

I can’t even begin to express how awesome I think the end of this video is.

[@mwsletten]

I'm glad you finally found car 54.

[@andyhunter1208]

Paul informative as ever, but also hilarious more like this please.

[@dustdevilz4771]

All good stuff and accurate. Also recall there’s no requirement to talk on a radio while flying a VFR pattern at an airport without a tower, that’s always an option.

[@christheother9088]

The perfect blend is an airport with a glider club ( milling about, dropping ropes, pushing gliders on the runway) and the elite private jets with their straight in approaches.

[@RichardInSD]

Whenever I'm having a bad day, I just watch this video. I still cry with laughter at the animation at the end. And I totally agree: Chatter on CTAF about straight-in approaches are pretty unprofessional. (Ha, monitoring "assho-- I mean 'dicks'" on Guard pales in comparison!) [Looking at you, SWA pilots!]

[@excellenceinanimation960]

This may be the best video i have ever seen!

[@JohnF732]

That put me in a badly needed good mood. Thanks, Paul...

[@1mouseman]

Awesome video,your channel and Juan’s are must watch aviation YT.

[@RaivoltG]

7:47 That is a very busy stretch of highway! Is there a restaurant selling $100 hamburgers for $5.00, something is drawing a lot of people in! Where is this highway? I really wanna check it out! Great video, very informative. I'll work on not being an A-hole, that's going to take a while!! Gotta practice my accent while saying "Tally-ho!" Too many pilots don't know the importance of a good Tally-ho, it should be practiced like stalls, losing an engine and other emergencies! There's a lot of great info, it'll save countless lives! Love the channel!

[@jom1439]

if this is what 2021 will be like iam all in for it

[@rickc303]

I just turned on all notifications to this channel thinking there were more videos like it, but only seems to be one...

[@182driver]

Well I have never seen a video like this...... loved it... basic information is correct and adapted to the Aussie way... it made me laugh all the way to the control tower ! Well done

[@WebbJam]

I don’t even have interest in flying. I come for his sense of humor..

[@will-7073]

Came or the sarcasm stayed for the FAR refresher. =)

[@TCPUDPATM]

This was marvelously done!!

[@earlfoss99]

Another great video from Paul!

[@TroyWhistman]

Paul, your best work yet! Even made me laugh harder than anything my friend Bryan Turner @JustPlaneSilly has made. (Could be “former friend” after he reads this). Also at 8:13, the Mooney pilot’s passenger bent over the police car appears to be prepped for a Field Cavity Search (TM). Add the new overhead descending teardrop entry, and I would have believed everything you said, but now I know it’s a parody!

[@philipmacduffie7612]

So let me get this straight.. if I get me a cubbie I can hear fiesta music and watch the mayhem below ( granted slowly ). Sounds great to me!

[@Aerospace_Education]

This was awesome!! Might be the best traffic pattern educational video out there.

[@autorepairexpert]

Thanks Paul & Crew. Another fun and informative video.

[@ak9079]

Just remember. When in doubt you always have the right of way!

[@StickandGlider]

I always choose a long straight in with no radio!

[@12345fowler]

I almost collided with the unique other aircraft in the pattern once at a field where 10 aircrafts movements a day is a busy day. I turned from overhead crosswind to downwind without doing the "teardrop reverse entry at 45° to downwind" (I was totally unaware this procedure existed and was never taught of it, and it is nowhere to be shown in any field charts in my country) We both made standard calls and so I was aware there was somebody in the pattern as the other pilot was also aware I presume. At the time of turning downwind I was looking into the right turn, banked with a low winged aircraft, and this is when I saw the other Cherokee 140 passing right under my nose from left to right, (he was flying the downwind leg) just a couple of feet away. I even heard his engine when he passed by. So it is perfectly possible to die stupidly by colliding with the only other aircraft in the air in a 15 NM radius with both aircrafts doing the proper RT calls. They call it complacency I believe.