Delaying techniques

VFR aircraft are usually significantly slower than larger commercial aircraft. For this reason, a gap of around 7 to 9 NM is required to get slow VFR aircraft from downwind into final approach. The size of the gap depends very much on the speeds of both aircraft and the length of VFR traffic’s final approach. The longer the final approach, the larger the gap must be.

To enable the shortest possible final approach, it is advisable to keep VFR traffic close to the airfield until it can turn into the final approach. The following tactics can be used for this.

Orbits

Orbits are used to keep VFR traffic within a certain area. The instructions and conditions can vary greatly. It should be noted that no relative position information (e.g. 3 o'clock position) can be used for traffic information while circling. A full circle takes 2 minutes with a standard curve (3° per second).

Landing sequence

Together with traffic information, you can instruct a VFR pilot to follow the mentioned traffic onto final approach. The responsibility for initiating a turn that keeps the necessary separation is then transferred to the VFR pilot.

Extended downwind

Instead of orbits or a landing sequence which tells the pilot when to turn into final, the pilot can also extend their downwind. It must be noted, however, that a longer downwind also means a longer final which will take more time. This, in turn, requires big gaps between incoming IFR traffic, so extended downwinds should be used with caution.