Training Pattern Guidance KTOA local VFR procedures
Not for navigation. Verify against the official sources linked below before flight.
noise abatement Airport sponsor published verified 2026-08-28 (42 d ago)
Published by the airport sponsor; voluntary unless ATC assigns it. If ATC assigns this route to you in Class B, C or D airspace, that assignment is an ATC instruction and compliance is required (14 CFR 91.123) — and “unable” remains available to the pilot in command.
North pattern training should stay over the commercial area north of the field; south pattern training is discouraged for fixed wing and prohibited for helicopters.
The route
- North pattern: when training, stay immediately north of the airport over the commercial area, avoiding noise sensitive residential neighborhoods
- South pattern training, while not prohibited for fixed wing aircraft, is discouraged to avoid adjacent noise sensitive areas on the rising terrain
- No helicopter training allowed in the south pattern — rotary-wing testing, training or certification flights shall be conducted within the north training pattern (this part is by ordinance)
When it applies
- Runway 11L or 11R or 29L or 29R — all operations Stated by pattern (north/south), not by runway. Note TMC 51.2.2 makes the patterns themselves mandatory but incorporates diagrams on file with the City Clerk that are not published in the code and could not be retrieved
Source text, verbatim
[Noise Abatement Guide:] South Pattern training, while not prohibited for fixed wing aircraft, is discouraged to avoid adjacent noise sensitive areas on the rising terrain. North Pattern — When training in the North pattern, planes should try to stay immediately north of the airport over the commercial area, avoiding noise sensitive residential neighborhoods. No helicopter training allowed in south pattern [TMC 51.2.2 TRAFFIC AND TRAINING PATTERNS:] a) ...all aircraft, both fixed wing and rotary wing, arriving at or leaving the airport, before landing and after takeoff, shall be flown in accordance with the traffic patterns shown on those certain diagrams on file with the City Clerk and in the office of the Airport Manager... All rotary wing aircraft being flown for testing, training or certification shall be flown within the north training pattern. b) The traffic pattern flight altitude for fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft arriving and departing is eight hundred feet (800') and the training pattern flight altitude for rotary wing aircraft is five hundred feet (500').
The text above is the published source wording and is authoritative over any summary on this page.
Sources
- Torrance Municipal Airport — Noise Abatement Guide (Revised 02/20/2024, retrieved from a SCAUWG mirror) City of Torrance Community Development Department, Noise Abatement Office · retrieved 2026-08-28
- Torrance Municipal Code 51.2.2 — Traffic and Training Patterns City of Torrance · retrieved 2026-08-28