SMA CONFUSED REF RWY ASSIGNMENT. MAKES APCH TO WRONG RWY. LCL CTLR CLRS FOR THAT RWY.
Synopsis
SMA CONFUSED REF RWY ASSIGNMENT. MAKES APCH TO WRONG RWY. LCL CTLR CLRS FOR THAT RWY.
Narrative
I WAS FLYING INTO DPA TO SCHEDULE AVIONICS WORK ON MY SMA. 12 MI OUT I CONTACTED TWR AND INFORMED THE CTLR OF MY INTENTIONS AND THAT I HAD ATIS INFO. I WAS GIVEN RWY 10 STRAIGHT IN; RPT OVER RIVER FOLLOWING ANOTHER SMA DOING SAME. I READ BACK AND WAS CORRECT. I DID NOT YET HAVE THE ARPT IN SIGHT BUT SPOTTED 2 OTHER SMA'S; ONE HEADED S; ONE N. I WAS NOW CONFUSED AS TO WHICH TO FOLLOW AND THEN WASN'T SURE IF RWY 10 WAS AT 100 DEGS OR 10 DEGS. IN MY CONFUSION; I CALLED TWR AND ASKED 'IS IDENT TO USE RWY 010?' I UNDERSTOOD CTLR TO SAY 'AFFIRMATIVE; RWY 10.' AT THIS POINT I HEADED FOR THE RWY WITH A HDG OF 010 (RWY 1). I ANNOUNCED OVER THE RIVER AS REQUESTED AND WAS CLRED TO LAND FOLLOWING SMA OVER THRESHOLD. I STATED THAT I DIDN'T HAVE THE TFC AND WAS ON 1/2 MI FINAL WITH LNDG LIGHTS ON. AT THIS POINT THE CTLR SAW ME ON APCH TO 1 AND CLRED ME TO LAND ON 1. I LANDED UNEVENTFULLY AND TAXIED WITH INSTRUCTIONS TO MY DEST. WHEN THERE; I WAS ASKED TO CALL THE TWR; WHICH I DID AND RECEIVED VERBAL INSTRUCTIONS TO MY MISTAKE. I FLY OUT OF A SINGLE RWY GRASS ARPT AND DURING WINTER MONTHS KEEP CURRENT ON LCL FLTS AND DO A MIN OF CTLED ARPT WORK. THE CONFUSION OF SO MANY AIRPLANES AND DIFFICULTY IN LOCATING THE ARPT LED ME TO A POINT WHERE I SHOULD HAVE DONE A 180 DEG TURN; REGROUPED; AND COME BACK INTO THE ATA WITH A CLR HEAD AND STARTED FROM SCRATCH. THE TWR WAS DOING THE BEST HE COULD WITH LIMITED STAFF. I MADE THE MISTAKE. I WILL NOW BE REMINDED THAT THE '0' IS KNOCKED OFF THE END OF THE RWY HDG; NOT THE BEGINNING!
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.