2007-11 · NASA ASRS report 761292
A NORDO PT17 PILOT USED HIS AIR SHOW SMOKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE ATC TRANSMISSIONS. ATC CORRECTED HIM FOR NOT OVERFLYING THE FIELD PRIOR TO LNDG.
LNDG ZZZ I COULD RECEIVE BUT COULD NOT XMIT. ACFT HAS NO ELECTRICAL SYS. 16 NM NW FROM ZZZ I PICKED UP ATIS INFO (LNDG 30; 34/25 CLOSED). 15/12/10/7/5 NM I WAS TRYING TO CALL TWR UNABLE TO PICK THEM I BELIEVED I HAD A RADIO PROB. I ENTERED THE TFC PATTERN FROM THE NW JUST N OF THE TWR AT 600 FT MSL BELOW THE NORMAL PATTERN ALT. REASON I DID NOT WANT TO CUT ANY TFC OFF AND IT IS MUCH EASIER TO SEE TFC LOOKING UP IN A BI-WING STEARMAN. THE STEARMAN THAT I WAS FLYING HAS A SMOKE SYS. I TURNED SMOKE ON ENTERING THE XWIND MIDFIELD. TURNED L TO DOWNWIND RWY 30. TWR CALLED IN THE BLIND TO ME TO GIVE THEM A WING WAG IF I COULD HEAR THEM. I SHUT THE SMOKE OFF AND GAVE THEM A BIG WING WAG. TWR CLRED ME TO LAND RWY 30. ON ROLLOUT TWR ASKED ME TO CALL THEM ON THE LAND LINE. I GAVE THEM A PUFF OF SMOKE TO LET THEM KNOW I HEARD THEM. I CALLED TWR. THE CTLR ASKED IF I HAVE EVER LOOKED AT RADIO OUT PROCS? HE SAID; 'YOU SHOULD HAVE OVER FLOWN CLASS D AIRSPACE; DETERMINED THE TFC PATTERN; THEN DSNDED AND ENTERED THE TFC PATTERN.' HE THEN SAID I CROSSED ALL DEP RWYS AT 100 FT AGL 'SMOKE WAS NICE.' IN CONCLUSION I WOULD HAVE DONE THE SAME THING. 1) I HAD ATIS LNDG RWY 30; 34/25 WERE CLOSED. CANNOT FLY OVER A DEP RWY IF THEY ARE CLOSED. 2) I ENTERED THE PATTERN AT A SAFE ALT 600 FT MSL FOR THE TYPE OF ACFT I WAS FLYING; MIXING WITH FAST MOVERS IN THE PATTERN IS A BAD IDEA. 3) OVER-FLYING CLASS D IN THIS AREA IS A BAD IDEA. LOTS OF HIGH PERFORMANCE ACFT ARE DOING THIS. PUTTING A STEARMAN UP THERE IS DANGEROUS.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
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