HOLDS; How long and how many laps ?

AdamZ

AdamZ

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Adam Zucker
Igottafly just posted a link to a flight aware screen shot of an aircraft that was given a hold. I counted 20 circuits in the hold. Having never been assigned a hold I'm wondering what is the highest number of circuits or laps you have held?

And what was your longest hold?
 
AdamZ said:
Igottafly just posted a link to a flight aware screen shot of an aircraft that was given a hold. I counted 20 circuits in the hold. Having never been assigned a hold I'm wondering what is the highest number of circuits or laps you have held?

And what was your longest hold?
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I don't know how many laps, fewer laps if you get somehting like 10 DME legs which I would generally ask for.

My longest time in a hold was about 45 min. best I remember, then I had to divert. This happened a few times in 8 years of air carrier flying.
 
45 minutes at RAYMY intersection going into Boston one dark and snowy night. Had a passenger who couldn't find the lav on the Beech 1900. Oh....there is no lav on a Beech 1900. I love air travel.
 
I don't exactly recall, but it took a while. I was number two for the field. The guy in front of me landed gear-up. I went missed and held while they cleared the runway. Oh, and of course, the airplane touched down and slid to a stop right in the intersection of the runways so I couldn't even use the other runway to land. Just waited a while and then got down. You never know what might happen.
 
I don't recall the amount of time, but I was assigned a "real" hold during my instrument checkride and I had to call to remind Approach after my EFC time was expired.

The only real hold after that was approaching Santa Fe last spring and I was cleared out of about 10 second after I reported entering - I was still in the first outbound turn for the direct entry.
 
I once had to hold near Lancaster on the way back to Frederick from the northeast, while the president transited to or from camp david. I was told to hold, and expect a further clearance time of "no sooner than 30 minutes - you can divert to Lancaster or Harrisburg any time, just ask". I was fat on fuel, so I ended up holding for about 35 minutes, and after the first few circuits I asked for longer legs and got three minute legs. I was glad for two things:
I was in an airplane with a good autopilot, so it was just a matter of adjusting the heading bug and watching the clock.
I wasn't paying for the airplane (it was a delivery)

That's the only hold I've ever gotten outside of check flights or proficiency sessions (or VATSIM).
 
I had an unrequested 10 min hold at SIE from Atlantic City Approach while doing approaches to KMIV during IR training. There was a modest crosswind, so it was a great training opportunity. Kind of got discombobulated when he released me with some vectors for the next approach instead of following the published plate, though. I guess you can't spend too much time patting yourself on the back when on instruments!!!!!
 
TMetzinger said:
I once had to hold near Lancaster on the way back to Frederick from the northeast, while the president transited to or from camp david.
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I've had to hold at EMI in IMC once. The controller specified distance instead of time--5 mile legs. I did two laps while I waited for someone to complete an approach into FDK.
 
deafsound said:
never had a single hold in IMC.
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I have a couple of times coming into the home airport. Complete with stepdowns on the holding pattern.
 
One hold after a missed approach. 45 mins while the fog lifted at Morristown, TN. Could have gone back to TYS, but was fat on fuel and needed the practice.
 
Seems like the holds I've done are at both extremes of airport size. I've gotten holds at small, remote, non-radar airports where only one IFR airplane is allowed in the airspace at a time. I've also gotten holds at large busy airports when there are weather and traffic delays. Couldn't say how many turns or how long. The longest one was probably no more than 30 minutes. :dunno:
 
Once, for two laps over LRP. Oddly, this was on my final stage check for my Instrument Ride. We were trying to do an approach into a local airport and chose the wrong time, jamming up Harrisburg's traffic flow. So I got to do "two around the parking lot" before they cleared us for the approach.

Jim G
 
AdamZ said:
Igottafly just posted a link to a flight aware screen shot of an aircraft that was given a hold. I counted 20 circuits in the hold.
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That doesn't look like a hold to me at all. I wonder if two airplanes were on the same squawk code briefly or something. Unless there's some new zig-zag holding procedure I'm not aware of...

FWIW, never been assigned a hold without asking for it.
 
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