Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

3 Answers

Right of way

Asked by: 1895 views , , ,
Student Pilot

Who has the right of way at an uncontrolled airport? A lower airplane or a glider above it?

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.

3 Answers



  1. ayavner on Jan 17, 2019

    Hi there – your reference is here https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/14/91.113 or the AIM, but can you tell us a little more about your scenario here?

    its tempting to say “the glider”, but tell us more about where each aircraft is positioned relative to the airport in question. do you mean both trying to enter the pattern at the same time or is the airplane already on short final? Is there a conflict?

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  2. grmm on Jan 17, 2019

    Thanks ayavner…the question doesn’t explicitly say if I am landing or not. Therefore, would it be the glider since it’s less maneuverable? If the question said we were both landing, then the lower airplane would have the right away, right?

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  3. KDS on Jan 18, 2019

    Imagine you’re in a glider on approach to land and there is also an airplane on approach to land. The airplane pilot sees you in your glider on approach and decides that his airplane has the right of way because he is (left, right, above, below, in front of, or behind) the glider. You try your best to avoid hitting the airplane, but an accident results. Assuming you’re still able to walk, would you get out of your glider an apologize to the airplane pilot?

    Try to imagine that scenario and you should be able to answer your own question.

    Remember, I said it is an intentional decision on the part of the airplane pilot. It’s not a matter of he couldn’t see you and didn’t know you were there.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 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.