Flying the whole landing pattern very slow is an invitation to a crash We have no way of knowing our airspeed, and if your airspeed gets low on the downwind leg you may not realize it, especially if there's substantial wind, and then when you turn to base, or from base to final, you stall. As Villa says, the usual name for this is "The wind got me," although some pilots call it "radio failure." The best pattern is one in which you make 90 degree turns and your final approach is straight down the centerline of the runway (crabbed if necessary because of a crosswind). If you practice this pattern until it's close to automatic you can concentrate on other things, like whether you're high enough to clear the corn, when landing. Many pilots fly a "final approach" that comes in at an angle to the end of the runway; sometimes as much as 45 degrees. Then they have to turn at the last minute. Unless you have to do this to clear a tree. it makes things harder. Fling a half-circle from downwind to final can work, but it's tricky because your angle on the plane is constantly changing and that makes it hard to judge speed and height.