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I do not think changing the ASOS or AWOS would help. During a recent trip to Big Bear, I saw a pilot ignore the wind reportings and land the wrong way. No one said anything until he was on final (the volunteers in the office) and he proceeded to land the wrong way. He reached the end of the runway to find 3 planes waiting to take off, only then did he acknowledge his mistake and apologize to everyone as he turned around on the runway.

As for the best actions, first, take your exit to a safe place. Trying to turn about in the pattern is not safe maneuvering. There might be NORADO planes in the area, etc.

Second, advise the other pilot of published right traffic, and ask if the other pilot is willing to change to right traffic on the next loop.

Then, re-enter the traffic pattern based on his reply. If he stays left, then you should stay left as a matter of safety.

If you were going to do pattern work, and if he exits the pattern, then you should move back to the published pattern.

If you could spot him, you could extend your downwind so as to ensure you came in behind him on final, but that sort of thing assumes matched speeds, or someone keeping an eye out for you. Probably best to avoid doing that at a non-towered airport.

Basically, published or not, you as the PIC must do what is required to maintain the safety of the flight. As PIC, you are specifically authorized to do so.

It’s recommended to send an entry to NASA’s ASRS with details of the encounter.

I figured that I would get blasted for what I said, but I am just trying to help. This IS a forum to try to help air safety. I should also say that I am not offended by your comments, I am just going to respond to your argument.

As far as added weight, I was not referring to a problem with the aircraft carrying it… I was referring to me. Think about how many states a jet can cross in a few hours. If I have a problem, I want to have charts (approach plates) available for the areas that I am flying over as well as my destination. I also need to have both high and low enroute charts. Let’s not forget my ops specs and company manual. As you can imagine, my chart bag is rapidly outgrowing the area in which I need to place it. I flew for the airlines for quite a while and I can assure you, I never once saw a little green book in the cockpit.

For the issue of money, you had better believe that it gets expensive. If a flight department has 15 pilots, that full set of AFD’s will cost over $3500 for the year. If it comes down to (another) paycut for me, or getting an AFD, you can imagine what my response will be. They have us sharing most of the IAP’s from the “library” already.

I just want to state again that I am not defending cheap operators or careless pilots. I myself DO try to look up and print off the AFD info for my destination 99% of the time. (flightplan.com is wonderful!) There are times where passengers making last-minute changes or availability of internet make that difficult. I just want to use this safety forum to get an active discussion going on about changes that would make things safer for all of us.