For US student pilots
Traffic pattern position reports: what to say on each leg
Every position report in the pattern is the same short sentence with one word changed: which leg you are on. The trick is knowing when to make one. At a towered airport you report only where the tower told you to. At a non-towered airport you report every leg, to everyone, with the airport name at both ends.
The legs
The AIM names them: departure, upwind, crosswind, downwind (parallel to the runway, opposite the landing direction), base (at right angles off the approach end) and final (AIM 4-3-2 c). Propeller aircraft fly the pattern at 1,000 feet above the ground unless another altitude is published, and all turns are to the left unless the chart shows “RP” for right traffic (AIM 4-3-3 a, c, d). The AIM’s own diagram enters the pattern in level flight abeam the midpoint of the runway at pattern altitude (AIM FIG 4-3-2).
At a towered airport: report where you are told
The tower gives you the entry and a report point, for example “enter left downwind, report midfield” or “continue, report two mile final” (JO 7110.65 3-10-1). You make that report and no others unless something changes. A report is facility, call sign, position, and the runway if there is more than one.
Palo Alto Tower, Cessna Six Zero Foxtrot, midfield left downwind, three one.
Palo Alto Tower, Cessna Six Zero Foxtrot, two mile final, three one.
Do not say “with you”, do not add “for the option” unless you are requesting it, and do not report legs the tower did not ask for on a busy frequency.
At a non-towered airport: report every leg
Inbound, monitor and communicate on the CTAF from 10 miles out, and report entering downwind, base and final, and leaving the runway (AIM 4-1-9 c 1, TBL 4-1-1). The airport name goes at the beginning and the end of every transmission, and runways are by number, never “the active” (AIM 4-1-9 g 8).
Half Moon Bay traffic, Cessna Six Zero Foxtrot, entering left downwind runway three zero, full stop, Half Moon Bay.
Half Moon Bay traffic, Cessna Six Zero Foxtrot, left base runway three zero, Half Moon Bay.
Half Moon Bay traffic, Cessna Six Zero Foxtrot, final runway three zero, Half Moon Bay.
Half Moon Bay traffic, Cessna Six Zero Foxtrot, clear of runway three zero, Half Moon Bay.
Say what you intend: “full stop” or “touch and go” on downwind tells the aircraft behind you what to expect. Where there is a UNICOM, include the station name in each call and ask for the wind and runway about ten miles out (AIM 4-1-9 h).
Three things the AIM rules out
“Any traffic in the area, please advise” is not to be used under any condition (AIM 4-1-9 g 1). “The active” is not a runway number (g 8). And a straight-in at a non-towered airport must not disrupt the flow of aircraft in the pattern (AIM 4-3-3 note 1): if you do one, announce it early and give way.
The traffic pattern
The legs have standard names — departure, upwind, crosswind, downwind, base, final — and the tower uses them in instructions. [AIM 4-3-2 c]
- Pattern altitude
- Propeller aircraft: 1,000 feet AGL unless the Chart Supplement says otherwise; large and turbine aircraft 1,500 feet. [AIM 4-3-3 a]
- Turns
- Left unless the chart or the tower says right (“RP” on the chart for a right pattern). [AIM 4-3-3 c, d]
- Entry
- Level, abeam the midpoint at pattern altitude; the tower may say “enter left downwind”, “enter left base”, “straight-in approved”, “make right traffic”. [AIM 4-3-3, FIG 4-3-2; JO 7110.65 3-10-1]
- Reports
- Give the report the tower asked for — “midfield downwind, runway two seven” — and nothing more; the tower adds “report two mile final” when it wants that.
- Extend / I’ll call your base
- Acknowledge with your identification and fly it. Do not turn base until told.
- Go around
- Answer “going around” with your identification, then fly: overfly the runway, climb to pattern altitude, enter on the crosswind unless told otherwise. [P/CG]
Non-towered airports — CTAF, UNICOM & self-announce
Without an operating tower, everyone transmits on the common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF) — which may be a UNICOM, MULTICOM (122.9) or the closed tower’s frequency. [AIM 4-1-9]
- When
- Inbound: monitor and announce from 10 miles out; entering downwind, base and final; clear of the runway. Outbound: before taxiing, before taxiing onto the runway, and until 10 miles out. [AIM 4-1-9 c, TBL 4-1-1]
- How
- The airport name at the START and the END of every transmission; runways by number, never “the active”. [AIM 4-1-9 g 8]
- UNICOM
- State the station in each call; 10 miles out ask for wind and runway. [AIM 4-1-9 h]
- Straight-in
- Discouraged; if you do one, announce at 8–10 miles and coordinate — you have no priority over the pattern. [AIM 4-1-9 g 4]
- Never
- “Any traffic in the area, please advise.” Not a recognised phrase. Listen instead. [AIM 4-1-9 g 1]
Strawn traffic, Apache Two Two Five Zulu, ten miles south, two thousand five hundred, landing Strawn, Strawn.
Strawn traffic, Apache Two Two Five Zulu, entering left downwind runway one seven, full stop, Strawn.
Strawn traffic, Apache Two Two Five Zulu, clear of runway one seven, Strawn.
Fly the pattern and say every leg
TowerTalk's Exercise F works the pattern calls with an AI tower, and Exercise K does the same on the CTAF with simulated traffic, both at real US airports, graded with the AIM paragraph.
Related
Study aid, written in our own words from the FAA Aeronautical Information Manual (Change 3, 7/9/26) and the Pilot/Controller Glossary, with paragraph references so you can check each point. Last reviewed 10 September 2026; awaiting review by a US flight instructor. It does not reproduce those documents and is not a substitute for them — always defer to the AIM, the current FAA publications, your instructor and your examiner. TowerTalk is not approved or endorsed by the FAA.