The traffic pattern at my formerly nontowered home airport used to resemble a game of chicken. VFR departures would find themselves beak-to-beak with pilots practicing ILS approaches under the hood in the opposite direction; corporate jets had to find gaps between students practicing touch-and-goes and simulated engine-out landings; and helicopters, gyrocopters, and gliders added to the anarchy in their own unique ways. Now, an FAA contract tower has gone up at Frederick Municipal Airport, and the new sheriffs have made order of previous chaos.
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