Narrative:

With a student flying the airplane we were on approach to runway 17 at jyo from 3 miles northeast at 1;200 MSL at 90 KTS on a heading of roughly 170 and maneuvering for the left 45 degree entry to the pattern; we heard a pilot announce on the CTAF that a cessna skycatcher was on runway 17 departing to the west. Because of the confined airspace around leesburg airport (jyo) it is common practice to make departures to the west with a right turnout. It is also common practice to join the traffic pattern using the approach that we were using from the north east. While we were on the left 45 degree entry to runway 17 less than a mile from the field we watched the skycatcher take off and turn onto the crosswind. The student at the controls said that he was headed right at us. We were looking toward the setting sun so it was a little hard to see and I said 'no; he said he was departing west; he is turning right'. A moment later I said - 'you're right he is headed right at us'. I got on the CTAF and called 'leesburg traffic; this is the diamond and I'm watching the departing skycatcher coming right at me'. The reply was something like 'whoa'. At that point the student flying our plane began a descent; she is a good student; and the skycatcher passed directly over us at a distance that we estimated to be between 50 and 100 ft. As we joined the downwind for 17 I said on the CTAF 'skycatcher be advised that was a departure to the east'. The skycatcher came back on the CTAF with something to the effect 'whoops; yes it was; we'll just turn west now'. At this point we were on downwind with a heading of roughly 350. The skycatcher was at our 2 o'clock position at about 1/4 - 1/2 mile. They then turned left onto a westerly heading and passed directly in front of us from right to left. At that point we were slowing and beginning our descent so this was not as close as the previous encounter; but still closer than you might like. The air space around leesburg airport is known as the leesburg maneuvering area (lma). The number of encounters of this sort in this space seems to me to be on the increase. The space in the lma can be very crowded on a nice weekend and contains a lot of training flights combined with a steady flow of small jet traffic. This is compounded by the fact that the airspace configuration has caused a number of local procedures to be developed by local pilots and instructors that are unfamiliar to transient pilots. The practice of making a right turnout from a left traffic pattern on runway 17 is an example of this. There are also a number of varied opinions of how to correctly enter the pattern for 17 from the west. The traffic pattern altitude is 1;200 MSL; the floor of the class B airspace above the field is 1;500 MSL. This makes for a number of close encounters as people overfly the field to join the pattern from the west. Many instructors teach students to enter this pattern by flying north of the field and maneuvering to the east to join the left 45 for 17. This helps maintain separation but only if everyone involved is aware of the practice.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: DA20 Flight Instructor reported a NMAC on arrival to the JYO Airport.

Narrative: With a student flying the airplane we were on approach to Runway 17 at JYO from 3 miles northeast at 1;200 MSL at 90 KTS on a heading of roughly 170 and maneuvering for the left 45 degree entry to the pattern; we heard a pilot announce on the CTAF that a Cessna Skycatcher was on Runway 17 departing to the west. Because of the confined airspace around Leesburg airport (JYO) it is common practice to make departures to the west with a right turnout. It is also common practice to join the traffic pattern using the approach that we were using from the north east. While we were on the left 45 degree entry to runway 17 less than a mile from the field we watched the Skycatcher take off and turn onto the crosswind. The student at the controls said that he was headed right at us. We were looking toward the setting sun so it was a little hard to see and I said 'No; he said he was departing west; he is turning right'. A moment later I said - 'You're right he is headed right at us'. I got on the CTAF and called 'Leesburg traffic; this is the Diamond and I'm watching the departing Skycatcher coming right at me'. The reply was something like 'Whoa'. At that point the student flying our plane began a descent; she is a good student; and the Skycatcher passed directly over us at a distance that we estimated to be between 50 and 100 FT. As we joined the downwind for 17 I said on the CTAF 'Skycatcher be advised that was a departure to the east'. The Skycatcher came back on the CTAF with something to the effect 'Whoops; yes it was; we'll just turn west now'. At this point we were on downwind with a heading of roughly 350. The Skycatcher was at our 2 o'clock position at about 1/4 - 1/2 mile. They then turned left onto a westerly heading and passed directly in front of us from right to left. At that point we were slowing and beginning our descent so this was not as close as the previous encounter; but still closer than you might like. The air space around Leesburg airport is known as the Leesburg Maneuvering Area (LMA). The number of encounters of this sort in this space seems to me to be on the increase. The space in the LMA can be very crowded on a nice weekend and contains a lot of training flights combined with a steady flow of small jet traffic. This is compounded by the fact that the airspace configuration has caused a number of local procedures to be developed by local pilots and instructors that are unfamiliar to transient pilots. The practice of making a right turnout from a left traffic pattern on Runway 17 is an example of this. There are also a number of varied opinions of how to correctly enter the pattern for 17 from the west. The traffic pattern altitude is 1;200 MSL; the floor of the Class B airspace above the field is 1;500 MSL. This makes for a number of close encounters as people overfly the field to join the pattern from the west. Many instructors teach students to enter this pattern by flying north of the field and maneuvering to the east to join the left 45 for 17. This helps maintain separation but only if everyone involved is aware of the practice.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.