Is there a correlation between driving on the left lane and doing standard overhead joins? 
The overhead join places traffic at 2000ft above the aerodrome, which places it outside the "responsibility" of any ATC working there.
So, at ATC airfields, it tends to be used in situations where ATC is too busy to be able to cope. It tends to get used on sunny weekends. They can legitimately send 50 inbounds to the overhead and just forget about them, and if they hit each other, it is not ATC's problem. Of course separation in Class G is never ATC's problem anyway.
What I don't like about the OHJ is that you enter the overhead orbit, and the most you can see is a certain left-right arc ahead of you. You can't see who is behind you, etc. Obviously somebody behind you should be looking out also and they should see you, but as we all know lookout is hardly 100% reliable. So there you are, whizzing round and round, knowing (from radio calls) there are several others at the same level also whizzing round, and you probably can see only 1 or maybe 2 of them.
So for busy traffic separation it is very bad.
It can be flown by anybody who can fly, obviously, but on non-busy days you can ask ATC for a left or right base, straight in, etc.
One also gets non-ATC airfields that "demand" the OHJ. They have no right to do that. You can just fly straight in if you want, reporting as usual.
One of those I used to fly to used to have a ground instructor pretending to be an ATCO (a problem at many airfields unfortunately, and definitely not just the UK) and just for a good laugh he used to get everybody to fly the OHJ and then a right hand circuit, which is the most complicated possible combination.
One of those I used to fly to used to have a ground instructor pretending to be an ATCO (a problem at many airfields unfortunately, and definitely not just the UK)
Although the UK does seem to have this strange obsession with the radio. For example, on the BGA (British Gliding Association) bronze written exam, the R/T section has a pass mark 10% higher than all the other sections, when R/T is most definitely the least important part of flying a glider. The US has it right: no R/T exam at all. The student's R/T gets evaluated on the checkride.
There's also one microlight instructor who used to be at our airfield who on more than one occasion gave our club a bollocking (as if he were some kind of airport authority) for not providing continuous A/G radio service. We only provide A/G on a best-effort basis (we're a tiny club and often there's only four or five of us out there), he's certainly not paying us to have a permanently manned radio, and we may all be out recovering a glider that's landed a bit long and needs pushing back. The best policy with him was to just nod our heads and let him vent and continue. It's not hard to look out of the gorram window when on downwind and see that there's a tractor moving a glider off the runway (and in any case there are some microlights based at the field with no radio, and it's perfectly legal to operate with no radio since it's a non-ATC field - and also the farmer (owner) often has farm machinery using the airfield especially during harvest time, all non-radio). He also flies weird non standard circuits only fit for a Boeing 747 with a drunken captain (gigantic and oddly shaped), then had the gall to have a go at me when I mistakenly joined a left downwind instead of a right downwind.
Much to our relief he's gone to England and let us be.
to fly the OHJ and then a right hand circuit, which is the most complicated possible combination.
Why Peter? Not judging, just wondering why you think this. If you make all turns in the direction of the circuit then I think it works out very well.
For a Right Hand circuit the mirror is flown. I actually like it, because it keeps you clear of departing traffic, and you can visually see other circuit traffic on departure as you are lining up for Crosswind leg on the deadside.
Where is it not possible as depicted, I have seen amendments to fly over head the runway and descend to circuit height and turn before the numbers.
And also if approaching on the deadside already, then I have always communicated what I intend to do, join crosswind... but if it is an unfamiliar airfield you can always fly at overhead height above the crosswind and then after passing the overhead make a turn back towards the deadside, allowing you to view the signal square; if unattended. Indeed it was very advisable to do this when I flew from Lee-on-Solent because of the on-shore/off-shore breezes, you could end up with wind in a completely unexpected direction.
I do get nervous in Europe, especially with Mid-Way downwind joins and departures because this places you head on to traffic where you need a Mk1 eyeball.
What I don't like about the OHJ is that you enter the overhead orbit, and the most you can see is a certain left-right arc ahead of you. You can't see who is behind you, etc. Obviously somebody behind you should be looking out also and they should see you, but as we all know lookout is hardly 100% reliable. So there you are, whizzing round and round, knowing (from radio calls) there are several others at the same level also whizzing round, and you probably can see only 1 or maybe 2 of them.
That's true of any busy circuit, though. You're only going to see the ones in front of you or off to the sides, when you hear there's someone #4 on downwind and you're on late downwind, you still can't see #2,#3 or #4.
The time I most use overhead joins is at an airfield with no ATC and no one on the radio, and no one around to tell me what's happening on the surface (although I've occasionally had an ATC airfield like Gloucester have me do an overhead join).
Things I find confusing :
The other issue with the OHJ is that some airfields might have for example a 300 foot elevation, so a OHJ is at 2300 QNH. With some airspace as low as 2500ft, there is a very small gap between those entering to descend into the circuit, and those who just simply might be overflying the ATZ (some with or without contact to the freuquency below them). Then again I undermine my argument by stating that even at downwind circuit height, some aircraft still fly straight through the ATZ without initial radio contact or position reports.
However you land in a circuit, they are always dangerous and someone doesnt do what they are supposed to.
I do get nervous in Europe, especially with Mid-Way downwind joins and departures because this places you head on to traffic where you need a Mk1 eyeball.
Head on? Where? Below, I add a picture of a traffic pattern as described by ICAO (the picture is a beautified version of the original one from the relevant ICAO document and was taken from Wikimedia Commons). If everybody sticks to that, ideally you only have to do a level scan to the left and straight ahead (for a left hand pattern).
@What Next, I agree that is standard and I think that is ok. What I am exactly talking about I do not want to say on a public forum, maybe if you agree Peter could send your email and I will PM you.
There are a couple of places, but one in particular that I have in mind where you are asked to leave via the mid entry point but at 90 degrees, and also join at the same point in the exact opposite direction. The entry and exit VRP is the same... That setup makes me nervous.
Coming back to the UK after flying for some time (VFR) around the Iberian peninsula, I imagine something people might find weird about the UK is the explicitness (is that a word?) of the clearences. I'll leave it unmentioned whether this is a good or bad thing, but it's certainly different to the approach taken in some other places (After having made initial contact with CTR controller, being asked why I was asking for a transit. Lesson learnt after a couple more incidents with transit requests being replied to with "of course" "as filed sir" and "no traffic affecting")
Already been mentioned of course but the ATSOCAS in the UK can be confusing, even for those who have done their homework. Flying with a European friend recently not far from Carlisle, already under a deconfliction service: "I have a number of unverified contact in your area, vectors will take you quite far off course, traffic service available if you wish to continue". This makes sense if you are familiar enough with the workings of the various services, but it left my friend questioning why a traffic service (a lower service he says) offers better routings.
