"follow the river" is more than a single turn; the river winds so it's a sequence of turns. Because of this saying follow the river is much more concise than th

"follow the river" is more than a single turn; the river winds so it's a sequence of turns. Because of this saying follow the river is much more concise than the specific turns. Many of the takeoff and landing patterns do follow the river: https://skyvector.com/airport/DCA/Ronald-Reagan-Washington-Ntl-Airport https://skyvector.com/airport/DCA/Ronald-Reagan-Washington-N...