Right-of-Way, The Right Way!

"Niner Four Charlie, traffic 12 o'clock, one mile, climbing through 2,100, opposite direction, a Cessna." That's the kind of traffic advisory that gets your attention. I was approaching the downwind at forty-five degrees for landing at my home base and was level at pattern altitude, 2,100 feet. I spotted the Cessna, less than a mile away and converging head-on with me. My brain unlocked the right-of-way rules folder which had been stored away for quite some time and was accumulating some dust. "Head-on, give way to the right," I recalled. I rolled into thirty degrees of right bank. The pilot of the Cessna evidently did not have right-of-way rules stored in his brain, or at least not correctly, because as I rolled right, he rolled left. From my seat, his airplane looked like a heat-seeking missile chasing after me! A quick roll back to the left and away from the Cessna remedied the situation, and I landed uneventfully.

This happened to me quite a few years ago, and since then I've never again encountered a head-on convergence situation. Few pilots do, and that's why right-of-way rules fall out of our brains after many years of disuse. But you'll need to know where to turn, possibly on short notice, in the event you do come near another aircraft. Don't make a mistake like the pilot of the Cessna did and interfere with evasive maneuver attempts by the other aircraft. Let's review a few of the key right-of-way rules:

• Remember, when converging with another aircraft head-on, always give way to the RIGHT.
• When converging with an aircraft of the same category other than head-on, the aircraft on the RIGHT has right-of-way (just like at an intersection in a car).
• When approaching an uncontrolled airport for the purpose of landing, the lowest aircraft within similar range of the field has right-of-way (and don't cheat by ducking lower just to cut in line!).
• When converging with an aircraft of a different category, the LEAST maneuverable aircraft has right-of-way (for instance, an airplane must give way to a hot air balloon or glider).
• An aircraft in distress ALWAYS has right-of-way over ALL other aircraft.

Remember also that tower controllers do not separate aircraft in the air; only aircraft on the runways and taxiways (airport movement areas) are positively separated. DO NOT rely on the tower to keep you separated from other traffic. They'll provide traffic advisories if they can, but you're responsible for seeing and avoiding threats all the way down to the runway.

Keep right-of-way rules accessible in your brain so they'll be there if you need them. Next time you need to give another aircraft right-of-way, do it the right way.