Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

2 Answers

What is a modified base in the pattern?

Asked by: 4297 views
Flight Instructor, General Aviation, Private Pilot, Student Pilot

Today I was in the pattern at a local airport and heard an inbound pilot of a jet announce he was on a "modified" right base. What is a modified base and when is it used?

Thanks

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

2 Answers



  1. Kris Kortokrax on Aug 03, 2014

    91.126 requires that airplanes make all turns to the left when approaching an airport to land,(unless there are markings indicating right turns are to be made). This regulation pertains to airports in class G airspace. It is incorporated by reference into 91.127, 91.129, 91.130 and 91.131 (Class E, D, C and B airports).

    I’m going to make a guess that the normal traffic pattern at your airport uses left turns. The only time right traffic can be used is if there are markings on the airport indicating that pilots are to make right hand traffic for a given runway.

    What the jet pilot was doing was illegal and his terminology (modified right base) is an attempt to make the illegal action sound legitimate.

    0 Votes Thumb up 2 Votes Thumb down 2 Votes



  2. mmosier1 on Aug 03, 2014

    Kris, you are correct. Normal traffic pattern is left turns.

    Thanks for the response.

    -1 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 1 Votes


The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.