Use runways with adequate length. The pilot operating handbook is a good start, but it s based on ideal numbers new airplane, new engine, test pilot with exceptional skills, etc. The ASF recommends adding a minimum of 50 percent to whatever distance the manufacturer was able to coax out of the aircraft to clear a 50-foot imaginary obstacle. Our obstacles are real and so are the consequences. One reason the airlines have very few entanglements off the end of the runway is that they ve overengineered their arrivals and departures.
Much time is spent figuring the worst-case senario and then adding a margin.
Follow the appropriate pattern procedures. As you ve heard many times, the midair collision threat is the greatest around airports, so keep a sharp lookout. That time when the pilot is most distracted takeoff and landing is precisely when the aircraft seems to demand the most. Configuration, power setting, navigation equipment there s always something to divert the attention. If you keep in your mind the image of two aircraft colliding, there will be no difficulty in setting priorities.