[plthijinx]

oh, also, many many airports in the states don't have a controller let alone a tower. it's all "self-announce" your position and intentions. for example: "andrau traffic 7716C 10 miles west, inbound landing, andrau" then once closer "andrau traffic 7716C 5 miles west, will be entering a mid field left down wind for runway 34, andrau." you always say the airport name in front of and at the end of your radio transmission as many airports share the same frequency. this cuts down on confusion. the system works. unfortunately there are from time to time mid air collisions. but actually, the one time i almost met nose to nose with a piper lance was at a towered airport. we both broke left right at the last possible moment. i got on the radio with a beavis voice and said "umm howzitgoin?" to which he replied that he was "brushing his teeth" to make a long story short the controller realizing his mistake of how he told us to enter the pattern, cleared me to land number two behind the lance. nevermind the fact that i damn near number two'ed my pants!