Wilbur wrote:CJ, the "shoulds" provide guidance on how to do things in the most common situations. But, they are only "shoulds," and not "shalls." because there are far too many variables that require individual pilots to exercise their good judgement to make good decisions in any given situation. It recognizes that there is more than one correct, safe, and sensible way of doing something. My example of airplane size being a determining factor in circuit entry is just one of a myriad of potential variables. The bottom line with circuit entries is fairly simple at the end of the day; you are free to enter anywhere in the circuit if it is safe to do so. If your choice turns out to be unsafe, you can be violated and held to account for making a wrong choice.
The majority of traffic at uncontrolled airports is light VFR stuff. The "should" recommendation on how to enter the circuit is going to result in most people entering the circuit the same way most of the time, and that is entirely adequate. Leaving some decision making room for pilots to do something different when it's prudent to do something different further enhances safety. Will some do something different when it isn't wise? Sure, by that's where 602.01 comes into play.
Wilbur, I understand why things are they way they are, I was merely, for the sake of discussion, trying to illustrate what I thought was a bit nonsensical. Clearly things could be a lot worst, and I was only trying to point out how I would make them better (for what that's worth),
Nevertheless it makes no difference. No matter how much I try to say to how I think things
should be, the reality remains that they
shall not change.