A few Circle-to-Land pattern types

I sometimes have trouble getting out of a VFR pilot's mindset when it comes time to circle-to-land after an IFR approach. I have a tendency to think I need to perform a standard VFR-type traffic pattern which will typically have me go too far away from the runway for a good IFR approach (when on an IFR circling approach - which is an approach where you don't come in straight-in on final - you need to stay close to the airport because it is required that you keep it in sight).

I brought this up with Charles a few weeks ago and he gave me some pointers which I have "digitized" in this diagram. This is by no means official advice, but I find this picture very useful to get my head screwed on straight when making a non-straight-in approach. :)

The orange dotted line represents a course you might take for a circle-to-land and the blue/green dotted lines are for standard patterns (one to the right and one to the left). There are obviously other ways you might have to circle, for instance if you were going to land on a different runway strip altogether.

Important things to note: you will be flying below pattern altitude, at whatever minimum altitude you are allowed based on the approach (680' MSL for a Cessna 172 flying into JGG on the VOR-B approach), and will need to make a nice tight pattern to keep the runway close to you at all times.

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