Request vectors for landing behaviour

[BlackBeltMike 2]

Good evening,

I called request vectors for landing and approach directed me back to the airfield's general vicinity and switched me to Tower frequency, and from there I was expecting/hoping the tower would give me turn left/right instructions right the way until onto final approach, but it didn't.  I'm not sure if that's reasonable or whether it doesn't work like that?  Thanks.

Mike  

[joelpacheco 9]

It should work, it has worked for me before. For example I say: <Callsign> requests vectors for <ILS or Visual> approach to runway <RWY>

[BlackBeltMike 2]

Yes that's the call I made, though I forgot the ILS/visual part - the log file shows P2A assumed visual.  I still expected to be guided around the circuit though until final approach, but what happened was after nearing the airport, Approach handed me over to Tower.  I had been vectored in perpendicular(ish) to the runway heading, then the P2A co-pilot checked in with the Tower, "descending to One Thousand  Seven Hundred feet".  The Tower did the read-back of that.  I continued my current heading for quite some time waiting for the next instruction from the tower but it never came.  After flying away from the airport (too far imo) , I decided to manually turn downwind and called that to the Tower.

I'm still getting used to P2A so I'm not yet sure what I can / can't do, so is the above the expected behaviour?  

The other thing is when Approach was vectoring me in, the P2A map window was showing a very odd diagram for the circuit, which I couldn't really understand (and I have a screenshot of it).  I have had to hand-edit the taxi-ways on this airport as the data was incomplete (by default it just has the runway only), so is it possible I messed that up?

 

 

[Dave-Pilot2ATC 864]

Mike,

When you don't specify that you want vectors to the ILS for runway xxx or to the visual straight-in for runway xx, then ATC assumes you just need help finding the airport and you will be contacting tower and requesting a VFR entry to the pattern.  At about 10-12 miles out, Approach will had you off  to Tower and you need to make a call something like "Tower, <CallSign> is inbound for landing", at which time the tower would give you pattern/runway information and tell you to report downwind.

I suspect the strange looking diagram for the circuit was a VFR pattern with the entry included, so it may have had an overfly of the airport and a turn to get onto the 45 to downwind.

Dave