Narrative:

Upon departure from ZZZ the crew contacted approach for flight following to the area south of the class C area for private pilot maneuvers. The crew then canceled flight following with approach control and proceeded into ZZZ1 for landings. After the final touch and go landing at ZZZ1; the crew contacted approach for flight following from ZZZ1 to ZZZ and flew nnw toward ZZZ climbing to 3;000 MSL. The crew headed 1-2 NM northwest of [the lake] in the recreation area southwest of ZZZ for setup of a 45 to downwind entry. The instructor made an approaching ZZZ call on CTAF. At approximately 3-4 NM; the instructor had the student pilot initiate a descent with the intent on being at pattern altitude (2;000 MSL). Upon starting the turnaround; the aircraft was still at 2;300 MSL descending; so the instructor instructed the student pilot to descend more aggressively to be at the 2;000 MSL pattern altitude as soon as possible for the 45 to downwind entry. The instructor mentioned to the student pilot the importance of merging on the 45 to downwind at the correct altitude to facilitate both merging and established traffic to be able to see each other while entering the traffic pattern.the crew then heard over CTAF an flight on downwind radio call. The instructor looked at the mfd and zoomed in to see if the other aircraft was pinging on tis at that time. The 'downwind' aircraft was not on the tis zoomed into 3.75 NM ring setting. Approximately 3 NM wsw of ZZZ at 2;000 MSL on a 45 to downwind and the instructor had the student pilot call 'ZZZ traffic; [callsign] 45 to left downwind; runway 30; ZZZ.' the student pilot and instructor then talked about searching for the 'downwind traffic emphasizing on eyes out of the cockpit. When the crew was approaching the time to turn downwind; with the student pilot and instructor still eyes out looking for the 'downwind' traffic at pattern altitude; the tis announced 'traffic; traffic'. The instructor looked down to the mfd and saw a yellow circle traffic icon with a '+5' (500 foot above the current altitude of 2;000 MSL) with a down arrow indicating a descent. The traffic circle was only a couple radii away from the center icon on the mfd and to the 7-8 o'clock position. The instructor then announced; 'my aircraft' and took control of the aircraft; steeply raising the left wing 30-45 degrees high to look above its position. The instructor saw the low wing piper at our 7-8 o'clock position about 20 degrees above the horizon. The [other aircraft] did appear to be visually at 500 feet above in a descent which correlated with tis indications. Its vector was from 8 O'clock going over toward its 2 o'clock in an aggressive descent. The [other aircraft] appeared to be entering the pattern from a >500 feet above pattern altitude descent slightly merging downwind; ~1 NM wide. Upon seeing the traffic; with the choices of turning right into the flight vector or turning left going opposite direction of the downwind; to create distance the instructor immediately added full power and descended 2-300 feet to assist in vertical separation and continued straight forward on the 45 to downwind proceeding to an inside downwind; ~0.5 NM wide; to assist in lateral separation. Upon rolling onto an inside downwind; the aircraft was spotted on downwind flying on a parallel vector. The aircraft was given back to control of the student pilot. With lateral separation assured; the student pilot climbed back up to pattern altitude. The student pilot made the downwind radio call with a planned full stop. The instructor emphasized to report the planned 'full stop' to allow the [other aircraft]; now in visual contact abeam us on a wide downwind; to plan for separation on final.after a standard base and final; the crosswinds with a student pilot necessitated a go around from that landing. Upon the next traffic pattern that was uneventful; the student pilot landed the aircraft then taxied to the refueling area and shut down without further incident.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C172 flight instructor reported taking evasive action in the traffic pattern at a non-towered airport.

Narrative: Upon departure from ZZZ the crew contacted Approach for flight following to the area south of the Class C area for private pilot maneuvers. The crew then canceled flight following with Approach Control and proceeded into ZZZ1 for landings. After the final touch and go landing at ZZZ1; the crew contacted Approach for flight following from ZZZ1 to ZZZ and flew NNW toward ZZZ climbing to 3;000 MSL. The crew headed 1-2 NM NW of [the lake] in the Recreation area SW of ZZZ for setup of a 45 to downwind entry. The Instructor made an approaching ZZZ call on CTAF. At approximately 3-4 NM; the Instructor had the Student Pilot initiate a descent with the intent on being at pattern altitude (2;000 MSL). Upon starting the turnaround; the aircraft was still at 2;300 MSL descending; so the Instructor instructed the Student Pilot to descend more aggressively to be at the 2;000 MSL pattern altitude as soon as possible for the 45 to downwind entry. The Instructor mentioned to the student pilot the importance of merging on the 45 to downwind at the correct altitude to facilitate both merging and established traffic to be able to see each other while entering the traffic pattern.The crew then heard over CTAF an Flight on Downwind radio call. The Instructor looked at the MFD and zoomed in to see if the other aircraft was pinging on TIS at that time. The 'downwind' aircraft was not on the TIS zoomed into 3.75 NM ring setting. Approximately 3 NM WSW of ZZZ at 2;000 MSL on a 45 to downwind and the Instructor had the Student Pilot call 'ZZZ Traffic; [callsign] 45 to Left Downwind; RWY 30; ZZZ.' The Student Pilot and Instructor then talked about searching for the 'downwind traffic emphasizing on eyes out of the cockpit. When the crew was approaching the time to turn downwind; with the Student Pilot and Instructor still eyes out looking for the 'downwind' traffic at pattern altitude; the TIS announced 'Traffic; Traffic'. The Instructor looked down to the MFD and saw a yellow circle traffic icon with a '+5' (500 foot above the current altitude of 2;000 MSL) with a down arrow indicating a descent. The traffic circle was only a couple radii away from the center icon on the MFD and to the 7-8 o'clock position. The Instructor then announced; 'My aircraft' and took control of the aircraft; steeply raising the left wing 30-45 degrees high to look above its position. The Instructor saw the low wing piper at our 7-8 o'clock position about 20 degrees above the horizon. The [other aircraft] did appear to be visually at 500 feet above in a descent which correlated with TIS indications. Its vector was from 8 O'clock going over toward its 2 o'clock in an aggressive descent. The [other aircraft] appeared to be entering the pattern from a >500 feet above pattern altitude descent slightly merging downwind; ~1 NM wide. Upon seeing the traffic; with the choices of turning right into the flight vector or turning left going opposite direction of the downwind; to create distance the Instructor immediately added full power and descended 2-300 feet to assist in vertical separation and continued straight forward on the 45 to downwind proceeding to an inside downwind; ~0.5 NM wide; to assist in lateral separation. Upon rolling onto an inside downwind; the aircraft was spotted on downwind flying on a parallel vector. The aircraft was given back to control of the student pilot. With lateral separation assured; the Student Pilot climbed back up to pattern altitude. The Student Pilot made the downwind radio call with a planned full stop. The Instructor emphasized to report the planned 'full stop' to allow the [other aircraft]; now in visual contact abeam us on a wide downwind; to plan for separation on final.After a standard base and final; the crosswinds with a student pilot necessitated a go around from that landing. Upon the next traffic pattern that was uneventful; the Student Pilot landed the aircraft then taxied to the refueling area and shut down without further incident.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.