Holding Pattern Tips?

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Turbo

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Does anyone have any helpful tips/tricks for holding patterns?
 
One I was taught was:

Nose

In

Teardrop

Nose

Out

Parallel

Meaning the nose of your airplane in relation to the holding fix. Direct is pretty easy.
 
LOL I am just learning about these myself. :D
 
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More than anything else (short of a GPSMAP with the holding pattern depicted), the ability to superimpose a mental picture of the holding pattern on your DG will improve your SA and reduce the mental loading. Keep in mind that the direct/parallel/teardrop entries are simply recommendations, not requirements and that any path you choose that gets you into the hold without flying beyond the "protected" area (it exists on both sides of the inbound leg, there's just a little more room on the outbound leg side), you're legal and safe.

That said, a DE might insist that you perform a recommended entry on a practical test if it's in the PTS. I can't imagine though, that a DPE would fail a candidate because they used a teardrop when their initial heading into the holding fix was 10° into the recommended area for parallel entries.

A common aid for entries is to draw the hold on your chart (or a handy piece of paper) along with your current course to the fix. Personally I get just as much assistance by mentally drawing this (you can use a finger) on the DG face. Start from the edge of the compass rose on the designated radial, draw a line through the center and curve in the specified direction. The parallel the inbound radial back to the edge of the card and make a half circle back to the designated radial. You might practice this with a pencil on images of a DG before trying it in the airplane then do a few mental ones while sitting in the airplane on the ground with the engine off.
 
etemplet said:
Very cool. I found some interesting stuff on that same page after I watched the video. Thanks !!
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Happy to help! I'm only about 15 hours into training but, by far, hold entries have been the most challenging part for me. I'm still occasionally turned around in the plane (while overloaded with other tasks), so a review of that video and Sporty's Study Buddy (http://www.sportys.com/studybuddy) Learning section on Holding Procedures was helpful for me, too.
 
gismo said:
More than anything else (short of a GPSMAP with the holding pattern depicted), the ability to superimpose a mental picture of the holding pattern on your DG will improve your SA and reduce the mental loading.
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I made a clear plastic disc with the holding pattern and entries pictured on it. The disc was then suction cupped to the center of the DG. It is stored where you need it and doesn't add to your scan.
 
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When I am driving around in my car I play a little mind game. I'll see something, like Mt. Rainier and say to myself, "Hold south of Mt. Rainier on the 180 ° radial.

Then I'll imagine how I would enter.

Do this a couple of thousand times and it becomes natural. Also, remember.....nobody cares or monitors how you enter a hold (except on check ride.) Just stay within the protected area and you are good.

Don't try to memorize some mnemonic.

Learn to visualize the hold.
 
kgruber said:
When I am driving around in my car I play a little mind game. I'll see something, like Mt. Rainier and say to myself, "Hold south of Mt. Rainier on the 180 ° radial.

Then I'll imagine how I would enter.

Do this a couple of thousand times and it becomes natural. Also, remember.....nobody cares or monitors how you enter a hold (except on check ride.) Just stay within the protected area and you are good.

Don't try to memorize some mnemonic.

Learn to visualize the hold.
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This. Exactly.

It's not a regulation enter the hold one of the three ways. So long as you stay on the protected side of the hold and enter it within a reasonable amount of time, there's not reason to stress yourself over it.

If it's a few degrees between a teardrop and a parallel, use the one you're most comfortable with. It keeps your SA up as well as staying ahead of the airplane.

I used to use the "pencil" method (also, the "thumb" method, I believe) and would goof up the entry entirely. It's much easier to visualize it and work your way in.
 
One I was taught was:

Nose

In

Teardrop

Nose

Out

Parallel

Meaning the nose of your airplane in relation to the holding fix. Direct is pretty easy.
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I like that one, too, Randy. Very simple, easy to remember, and it works. Forget all the 70 degree stuff, etc. :).
 
I wrote this in a similar thread. Go do some ground school with your instructor. Have him give you headings to the fix and holding clearances. Figure out which pattern you'll use, how you'll set up your NAV's, etc. If your flight school has a simulator, take advantage of this. I really struggled to conceptualize holding patterns when I was doing my IR. I used my school's Redbird Sim a lot because it was A LOT cheaper than going in the plane and flying around and its great for learning procedures. When I did something wrong, or we wanted to try the hold again, we would pause and reset. You can't do that in the air! Once you get comfortable doing holding patterns, work on it in the plane. I did about 15 hours in the Redbird and it saved me a lot of money and was really valuable with learning procedures
 
gismo said:
That said, a DE might insist that you perform a recommended entry on a practical test if it's in the PTS. I can't imagine though, that a DPE would fail a candidate because they used a teardrop when their initial heading into the holding fix was 10° into the recommended area for parallel entries.
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On my checkride I approached the holding fix from an angle where based on the way it's usually taught, I should have done a parallel entry, but because of a very strong crosswind, I elected to do a teardrop entry and crab sharply into the wind on the outbound leg rather than get blown halfway to PTK during the turn inbound. I explained to the DPE what I was doing and why. He replied that he NEVER does parallel entries anyway. I think he would have been okay with any entry that kept me in the protected airspace.
 
I have to say, entries were always my nemesis. Unless it was a direct entry, I was pretty much a soup sandwich trying to figure it out.

Between holding and DME arcs, I hate them equally. If I had to chose, I'll take a hold though. I hate DME with a passion.
 
Unit74 said:
............
Between holding and DME arcs, I hate them equally. If I had to chose, I'll take a hold though. I hate DME with a passion.
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DME arcs in my opinion have gotten a bad rap mostly because of the confusing way they're taught sometimes. Think about this; Once you've established yourself on the arc and assuming you're able to hold a heading there's really only four things that might be happening and you can monitor it on the DME itself from the number and the trend, keeping in mind that you're following a curved courseline while flying a straight line or rather a series of straight lines.
#1 - inside the arc with the trend getting smaller
#2 - inside the arc with the trend getting bigger
#3 - outside the arc with the trend getting smaller
#4 - outside the arc with the trend getting bigger

Numbers 1,2 & 3, just hold your course, you'll re-intercept the arc. When the situation becomes that described in number 4, turn ten degrees to the inside and monitor the DME. If the number doesn't start getting smaller then turn another ten degrees to the inside.
So all the "turn ten, twist ten" stuff you were taught? All that really does is provide positional awareness and a rough ready reference of what your constantly changing and easily forgotten heading should be. Once you're established on the arc the only points you're really interested in identifying are the final approach course or lead radial plus any stepdown fixes. With a simple heading bug for heading reference you can easily fly the arc forgetting the "turn ten, twist ten" gobbledygook altogether. Just maintain the arc with these simple principles and twist the OBS to the next step-down fix progressing to either the lead radial or the inbound course. :wink2:
 
just remember the big picture of what you are trying to accomplish. The purpose of the exercise is to waste time in protected airspace and, when done wasting time, leave the fix in a direction anticipated by ATC. Other goals may be to affect a change in altitude prior to passing a fox.

keeping that in mind, slow down, the goal is time and/or altitude, not distance travelled. And don't worry so much about this entry or that perfect racecourse pattern. In fact, if your GPS shows a racecourse pattern, ignore it. If there is any wind, your patteron should NOT be a racecourse over the ground. Nobody cares how you stay in the protected airspace as long as you do.
 
JHW said:
just remember the big picture of what you are trying to accomplish. The purpose of the exercise is to waste time in protected airspace and, when done wasting time, leave the fix in a direction anticipated by ATC. ................................
keeping that in mind, slow down, the goal is time ......., not distance travelled. ......
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good point, When ATC puts you in a hold he's basically parking you at the holding fix until such time that you can proceed. Slow down to conserve fuel and no need to wait, slow down as soon as you get the holding clearance.
 
Easy schmeezy: On your G1000, set the hold point as your active waypoint (that you may have to create as a user waypoint). Press the OBS softkey and rotate the inner course knob to set the course to the inbound leg. Cross the waypoint and enter the pattern to stay on the protected side.
 
A few tips -

1) Ask for 2 min legs. . . . Why? Cause the average delay is right around 5 min or so when lining up approaches and in a light airplane you can fly for 2 min and not exceed the 1 min leg of a 210kt jet, and its easier to fly 2 min then turn -

2) You slowed down right? Lower forces in the turns - you also don't fly further away from where you are going -

3) Nobody cares how you enter. . . just cross the fix and turn the right way.
 
It's pretty hard to enter a hold correctly and fly the hold correctly if you don't know WHERE the hold is. Best thing to do is sketch the hold on the approach chart or enroute chart, or enter it into the GPS if you have that option. But the fundamental principle is you must be able to visualize WHERE THE HOLD IS.

If holding at a VOR, the inbound leg will always be towards the VOR, however if holding on a DME (or GPS) fix, the inbound leg can be either towards the VOR or away from the VOR. (I've seen information that says the inbound leg is ALWAYS toward the VOR, which is incorrect in the case of a hold at a FIX other than the VOR itself).

The INBOUND LEG defines where the hold is, so if the hold is EAST of the FIX, the inbound leg is east of the holding FIX.

All holds have the inbound leg, a straight leg leading up to the holding fix before the turn that begins at the fix. You will never see a proper ATC hold that has a turn leading you immediately to the fix. Can't happen. The holding instructions wouldn't work if this type of hold existed.

As an exercise, draw a VOR, draw 90 degree radial leading away from the VOR and mark a FIX at 10 DME. Now find the 4 possible holds at this FIX and write down the ATC instructions for each of the 4 holds (refer to 5-3-7 in the AIM). All 4 holds will have inbound leg to FIX on the 90 degree radial.

One other tip:
If all else fails, and you get to the holding fix and don't know which way to turn, turn to the direction that was included in the holding instructions. (as in "hold EAST of FIX" etc). So when you get to FIX, turn EAST. After turning EAST you will be on an 'approximate' outbound leg of the hold. Play around with this, you'll see what I mean. It works coming from any direction. Just a little trick that may come in handy if you get to a hold, at night, in a cloud, there is a lot going on and you don't know which way to turn. This will at least put you on the holding side of the fix, flying outbound in the approximate correct direction.

Hope that helps
 
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I recently passed my check ride and just like a lot of people here, I couldn't wrap my head around holds for many, many hours. After a while I finally did get them conceptually on paper, but entering them was another story. By the time I took my ride I finally had them down. Here is what works for me.

Or course whatever works for you is what you should stick with, but I threw away all mnemonics and contorted fingers superimposed on the HSI. What I found that worked like gangbusters was found on some site somewhere. It only works if you can draw out the hold itself.

On a 3x3 cube of Post-it's, draw the hold. Make sure it has the fix and the racetrack correctly depicted with the outbound and inbound headings as well as a straight line through the area which will determine the teardrop/parallel area along with those headings. In all you will have 4 headings written down.

Assuming it's drawn out correctly, hold the Posit-it up to the HI or HSI and turn it so that the numbers on the paper lineup with the same headings on the HI. This will instantly show you your orientation from your present heading to the hold fix and whether you are coming in from the small side (teardrop), the wedge (parallel) or direct entry. For example, say you were given the following instructions: "Hold west on the 270 radial". You would draw it out so that the outbound heading is 270, the inbound is 90, the small area is 20 and the wedge is 130, with a line straight through from 20 to 130. If you are on a present heading of 360, hold the Post-it up to the HI so that the 90 degree number is aligned with 090 on the heading indicator. Now here is a great trick for even greater SA, look at the heading you are coming from and see where it falls within the numbers on the Post-it. In the example I gave, you are if you are heading 360 then that means you are "coming from" 180, which is to the left of the 130 heading written on the pad which translates into a direct entry. I know it sounds complicated but once you master it, it will take 20 seconds to draw it and 5 seconds to hold it up to the HI and get oriented.

Now, once in the hold, simply turn the Post-it with every turn you make (it can be on your lap) and it will give you an instant orientation as to where you are in the hold.

Other tips which were mentioned. If you have a decent GPS, use the OBS mode and set it to the inbound heading. This will draw an inbound magenta line through the fix and it works wonders. Also, an air traffic controller friend of mine told me early on that they could care less how you enter the hold, just as long as you stay in the protected area and are at the assigned altitude.

When in doubt whether it's a parallel entry or teardrop, just keep in mind that a teardrop is preferable because it's going to give you more time on the inbound segment because you will be further out when you make that final turn inbound. Parallel turns have a way of eating up space and by the time you're inbound you may be close to the fix.
 
The less I have to juggle numbers the better I like it so, I try to visualize;
Where's the hold in relation to the fix, and where am I in relation to the fix? If I'm coming in from the holding side of the fix it's a direct entry, if I'm coming in from the non-holding side of the fix/holding side of the holding course it's a parallel entry, coming in from the non-holding side of the fix/non-holding side of the holding course it's a teardrop entry. That won't pass the instrument written but it'll keep you in the protected airspace.
 
peerlesscowboy said:
The less I have to juggle numbers the better I like it so, I try to visualize;
Where's the hold in relation to the fix, and where am I in relation to the fix? If I'm coming in from the holding side of the fix it's a direct entry, if I'm coming in from the non-holding side of the fix/holding side of the holding course it's a parallel entry, coming in from the non-holding side of the fix/non-holding side of the holding course it's a teardrop entry. That won't pass the instrument written but it'll keep you in the protected airspace.
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Just like there are artistic people and mathematical people, there are those that can easily conceptualize. I am not one of them and no matter how hard I try to look at the HSI and figure out how the hold will look from my present position - sometimes just two minutes away - I just can't do it.
 
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