What can I do better next time? P.S. Sorry San Diego A.T.C.

So a couple of days ago, I was flying to San Diego runway 27 I assume A.T.C. was busy and approach told me to maintain 8000 ft. then handed me off too late. Tower told me i was clear, but I knew I couldnt make it. I said correction stand by and pulled out to the right to do a WIDE 360 to get back in line. There was another plane after me, but only the one. I figure if i was 10 + miles away from him/her that it would clear me of the other plane and give me enough room for a safe landing. Then I got say intentions. I said another correction standby, (note I was still going north to northeast and way out from the other plane). Then I got another say intentions, then with in seconds i got a check the forums. So I’m just curious what should have I said and what could I improve on. Thank you forums.

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First of all… Was this TS1?

Second… You should have just announced ā€œGoing Aroundā€

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Hey :)

What was the controller’s name?

I’m sure he’ll be happy to help you ;)

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What server was this? If this is training then we cant do much about that, but on expert perhaps you can contact the controller if you know his name, or contact @Tyler_Shelton or @Joe if you dont know the controller.

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I would personally say going around.

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What do you mean ā€œI knew I couldn’t make itā€? ATC should have cleared you with enough separation to land. If they didn’t, you should have said ā€œgoing aroundā€ when the aircraft ahead touches down

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He meant he was too high more than likely. So he was too high to make the runway safely

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Hey @L_Harris ,

First of all you should use Correction standby when you tell something wrong to the Tower and then tell the right thing, so don’t use this command so frequently because Tower doesn’t know your intentions and with Correction standby you don’t tell anything important for the Tower.

So always tell your intentions to the Tower and in this case you should have called Going Around.

Hope you found this answer helpful!

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@L_Harris… MaxSez: Sound like a TS1 event. if you where above 050AGL when you went around you did nothing wrong you where out of controlled airspace! Below 050 in controlled airspace you had a missed approach, that was the call, Tower would then give you vectors from the Missed waypoint/fix. Check Google or the tutorials for ā€œMissed Approachā€ procedure. Regards

(Go Around is routinely used in uncontrollled airspace. It’s a standard Unicom call. Missed is a standard Pilots decision call utilized before reaching decision height etc in controlled airspace, Harris’s situation. . Correction is not routinely utilized on Approach after you’ve received instruction. Correction indicates an error has occurred with a request or command to follow. PS: ATC is never busy when they have you under control. Be patient or call missed or request departure (direction))

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Yeah probably the ā€œgo aroundā€. But don’t worry, you are still learning, you never stop learning! Cheers

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Like everyone else is saying. If approach has sequenced you and cleared you for an approach to a runway you should not disbandon that approach course unless it’s an emergency or you are instructed to by tower or approach. The approach controller expects the pilot to maintain that course all the way to touchdown. In your case being too high, just continue on the approach and announce a missed approach and the tower should give you either instructions to enter the tower pattern or to contact approach for resequencing.

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Execute missed approach.

Fly runway heading into upwind, then swing back around into downwind. Do not do an immediate 360.

In general, however, as @Maxmustang sez (sorry, Max, had to), if you’re that high at that location, you’re not planning properly.

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Sorry I was driving home, sorry about the late reply but answer peoples questions so far.

  1. It was the training server this happen in, since I’m only grade 2.

  2. I didn’t know the controllers name/s.

  3. I was way to high since from what I learned on youtube is to always follow A.T.C.'s directions and i try to play as realistic as possible so I don’t go higher or lower then the absolute value of 1200 V.S. (I read this was the maximum Vertical speed that commerical planes use) thats why I knew I wouldnt make it and overshoot the runway.

  4. I honestly thought correction SB was used incase if I had to make a correction. And disregard last message was if I said something wrong. Next I’ll announce that I’m going around.(I dont know why I forgot about that.)

  5. Thank you everyone and comment I should of said going around, I appreciate everyone that is helping me out.

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@L_Harris… No Mr. Harris you should have called ā€œMissed Approachā€
Re-read the responses here. Numerous errors noted by the ā€œOtherā€ Fledglings.
Commenting on this thread. ā€œTrust but Verifyā€. Regards, Max

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I’m not sure where you saw this, but that’s not accurate.

However, if you do intend to limit yourself to 1200, then you need to do the math. If your ETE to the cone is 4 minutes, don’t expect to lose 10000 feet; the math doesn’t work out. So either slow down (I’ll presume you were probably going close to 245 IAS if I were a betting man), or extend your downwind.

But if you’re not at the right altitude, don’t turn base.

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As per @Maxmustang and @Tim_B (and a few others who posted), your situation definitely should have been announcing a ā€˜missed approach’.

The ā€˜go around’ command, without getting too detailed, whilst in an IFR / commercial flight (even under visual conditions), would only be used after passing ā€˜minimums’ or the final approach fix, or an aircraft taxis onto runway ahead of you preventing you from landing etc … but this is a lesson for another day.

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Review the #tutorials

https://community.infiniteflight.com/c/tutorials/flight

This will help you understand how to communicate better with ATC overall and welcome to the forum.

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I think it was 200 or 180, because I always land at 160-150. I knew it was too high, but I asked approach if i could drop to 3000 but each time they said maintain 8000; and I can’t ignore what they say. Side note: what is the absolute range that commerical plane can go,if I may ask because I’m really curious.

@Maxmustang thank you, I’ll use missed approach and i’ll study videos on it as well.

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Tip to lose height when left ā€˜high’ by ATC.

  1. Reduce thrust to idle
  2. Increase VS to maintain target speed
  3. Use the speedbrakes to assist

(Note that the higher your speed, the faster you will descend)

Commercial airlines are designed to be efficient, the problem this poses for pilots is descent management. It is difficult to ā€˜slow down’ and ā€˜go down’ at the same time which is ironic because this is what we do for landing. So use the speed to get to a better altitude, and then once you’re level, let the speed bleed off. This is the most affective way to lose height. Don’t forget (speed dependant) the gear is available and useful if it’s still not working.

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Unfortunately, not much can be done about controllers on the Training Server, but either way, EMA.

Regarding descent ā€˜range’, I shall defer to real-world commercial pilots such as @RAH.

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