Holding Patterns.

[Sandesh]

Dear fellow Aviators,
I am currently working on my holding patterns, But I do them but not knowing how!, I was wondering if someone could please explain entries and rules of thumbs on how to perfect holding? Any tricks or tips are extremely appreciated.

Thank you all for your time and dedication,
Sandesh

 

[CoffeeIcePapers]

Couple of tips:

Conserve Fuel
Stay on the protected side
Ask yourself what the inbound course is, and make sure your OBS is set correctly

 

[Clocks]

There are some rules of thumb out there for which kind of entry to use. I think they are useful when you need a quick and dirty answer. But my best advice is to learn how to visualize the hold based on the clearance from ATC, then learn the 3 entries. Then as long as you know where you are...the correct entry is obvious.

 

[N261ND]

When you cross the holding fix, perform the five T's:

Time (start)
Twist (OBS)
Turn (entry heading)
Talk (ATC)
Throttle (holding speed)

works like a charm. Just study the AIM section on holding.

 

[meritflyer]

Parallel: Two turns opposite the direction of the hold to enter. If it is a parallel, the heading to turn to after crossing the fix was given to you in you holding clearance.

Teardrop: If its a left turn pattern, add 30 degrees to the outbound heading. Right pattern, subtract 30 degrees from the outbound heading. Once you've flown your 30 degree offset for one minute, remember it'll always be a turn back in the direction of the hold (to intercept the inboud course/radial).

 

[Crockrocket94]

When you cross the holding fix, perform the five T's:

Time (start)
Twist (OBS)
Turn (entry heading)
Talk (ATC)
Throttle (holding speed)

works like a charm. Just study the AIM section on holding.

Just out of curiousity, wouldnt you want to slow down to the holding speed three minutes prior to reaching the holding fix?

 

[JJ429PA]

Teardrop: If its a left turn pattern, add 30 degrees to the outbound heading. Right pattern, subtract 30 degrees from the outbound heading. Once you've flown your 30 degree offset for one minute, remember it'll always be a turn back in the direction of the hold (to intercept the inboud course/radial).

A good acronym for this is LARS: Left Add Right Subtract

I used to know a trick that involved holding a pencil up to the DG or something but honestly it's pretty easy to just draw the hold real quick on your notepad, look at your current heading and figure it out from there. Once you know what you're going to do, repeat the steps in your head a couple times as you approach the fix. "Left 300, outbound 1 minute, inbound 020..."

Another great trick for holds is the 'Plus 2, minus 2' rule. If you take any heading, for example 090, you can figure out it's reciprocal by either adding or subtracting 2 to the first number and doing the opposite of it to the second number. 090 is (0+2, 9-2) 270. 245 is 065 (2-2, 4+2). Leave the third number alone. The trick is to do what keeps the heading below 360. So since adding 2 to the first number in 245 makes it a 4, you instead subtract 2 to make it 0. Then always do the opposite to the second number, so you never add-add or subtract-subtract. Sounds complicated but if you're good at mental math it's pretty quick once you know what you're doing. Hope that makes sense.

 

[fish314]

When you cross the holding fix, perform the five T's:

Time (start)
Twist (OBS)
Turn (entry heading)
Talk (ATC)
Throttle (holding speed)

works like a charm. Just study the AIM section on holding.

Hmm.. The military (USAF) teaches this too, but they use the 6 T's, rather than the 5 T's:

Time
Turn
Throttles
Twist
TRACK
Talk

I think the reason that the TURN comes before the TWIST in the USAF is because they don't use a seperate CI and DG. Most airplanes have either an RMI or an HSI (usually an HSI).

Then we add TRACK, to remind people that once you've turned to your heading you still need to get over to the course, if you've got one available.

Lastly, we put TALK at the end, which I guess is in keeping with the idea of AVIATE, NAVIGATE, COMMUNICATE.

Either way, the 5 T's or the 6 T's is a useful tool crossing ANY fix, not just a holding fix. You can use it crossing the IAF on an instrument approach, or when crossing the FAF, or the Holding Fix, etc., etc. Just throw out the T's which are not applicable to whatever it is you are doing.

 

[MidlifeFlyer]

Hmm.. The military (USAF) teaches this too, but they use the 6 T's, rather than the 5 T's:

Time
Turn
Throttles
Twist
TRACK
Talk

I think the reason that the TURN comes before the TWIST in the USAF is because they don't use a seperate CI and DG. Most airplanes have either an RMI or an HSI (usually an HSI).

Then we add TRACK, to remind people that once you've turned to your heading you still need to get over to the course, if you've got one available.

Lastly, we put TALK at the end, which I guess is in keeping with the idea of AVIATE, NAVIGATE, COMMUNICATE.

Either way, the 5 T's or the 6 T's is a useful tool crossing ANY fix, not just a holding fix. You can use it crossing the IAF on an instrument approach, or when crossing the FAF, or the Holding Fix, etc., etc. Just throw out the T's which are not applicable to whatever it is you are doing.

There's probably a version with 7, 8 and 9 Ts also. We tend to go overboard with these things. (So tell me, has there been some sort of problem with pilots figuring out their entry, turning to the correct headings, twisting the VOR and then completely forgetting to TRACK the course?)

Order is another. You can come up with plenty of examples where one order or another will make more sense. Personally, I think of the Ts as a mental checklist of a set of subtasks that need to be accomplished - a briefing before reaching the fix and a checklist after the subtasks are accomplished to make sure something was missed. The exact order (I heard TIME TURN and TURN TIME with their respective proponents although TALK is universally at the end) doesn't matter as much as the fact that you accomplish them.

 

[fish314]

There's probably a version with 7, 8 and 9 Ts also. We tend to go overboard with these things. (So tell me, has there been some sort of problem with pilots figuring out their entry, turning to the correct headings, twisting the VOR and then completely forgetting to TRACK the course?)

Order is another. You can come up with plenty of examples where one order or another will make more sense. Personally, I think of the Ts as a mental checklist of a set of subtasks that need to be accomplished - a briefing before reaching the fix and a checklist after the subtasks are accomplished to make sure something was missed. The exact order (I heard TIME TURN and TURN TIME with their respective proponents although TALK is universally at the end) doesn't matter as much as the fact that you accomplish them.

Yeah, I agree. I wasn't trying to say one was better than the other. Just kind of a "huh, that's weird.. we use almost the same, but not quite". I think that the "track" may come from applying the 5 or 6 T's to other things. Like maybe crossing the FAF on an approach where the FAF is the VOR and the course to the MAP isn't the same as the course inbound to the FAF... I don't know.

As for the order, you could pretty much make a case for any order that makes sense (obviously, you couldn't TRACK before you TWIST). It seems like when you're teaching a new student it's more important to just HAVE an order, though. Guys with some experience can kind of do more than one thing at a time, but when you're new it's easier to do one at a time.

Speaking of there maybe being a 7 or 8 or 9 T's, an instructor I knew once came up with an acronym for instrument approaches based on the word, "ANTI-DISESTABLISHMENTARIANISM" to sort of make fun of all of the different teaching acronyms out there.

 

[CoffeeIcePapers]

When you cross the holding fix, perform the five T's:

Time (start)
Twist (OBS)
Turn (entry heading)
Talk (ATC)
Throttle (holding speed)

works like a charm. Just study the AIM section on holding.

Not sure if this is really good advice. You wouldn't want to start your timer crossing the fix if you are doing a direct entry. Your OBS should have been twisted already, before reaching the fix, otherwise, you wouldn't be tracking the proper course, and as stated before, you should be at holding speed before reaching the fix.

 

[MFT1Air]

Parallel: Two turns opposite the direction of the hold to enter. If it is a parallel, the heading to turn to after crossing the fix was given to you in you holding clearance.

Teardrop: If its a left turn pattern, add 30 degrees to the outbound heading. Right pattern, subtract 30 degrees from the outbound heading. Once you've flown your 30 degree offset for one minute, remember it'll always be a turn back in the direction of the hold (to intercept the inboud course/radial).

I really need to work better to understand this. . .it's killing me now.

 

[mhcasey]

Not sure if this is really good advice. You wouldn't want to start your timer crossing the fix if you are doing a direct entry. Your OBS should have been twisted already, before reaching the fix, otherwise, you wouldn't be tracking the proper course, and as stated before, you should be at holding speed before reaching the fix.

Yeah but it works for everything and it takes 2 seconds. Not that huge of a deal if some of the items are already checked. Also, with 1 VOR receiver, for example, you may not have the OBS twisted prior to getting there.

One final thing, it works throughout approaches too.

I think good advice has been given. Try the little tricks until you find one that works, but eventually you'll just be able to see automatically where to go if you're able to maintain the situational awareness to say "I am here, the fix is there, and I'm holding on that side." For checkride purpose, it may be essential that you figure out exactly which entry is appropriate, but the regs only require you to stay on the holding side within the specified area (and airspeed if you've moved beyond the C172 world).

My Dad told me to "enter whichever way requires the least amount of initial turn." That seemed to work pretty well.

 

[VDEE7]

Speaking of Hold.. I'm not sure if this is covered here somewhere, but what do you guys consider "established in the hold"?
I thought it was once you're established inbound with positive course guidance but I also heard from an ATC that it's passing the holding fix on the entry!

Also, do you have to go 4NM or as depicted on the RNAV approach if you're doing a procedure turn or a hold for that matter? the AIM makes it seem as if its when you start the turn not as a limit!

 

[meritflyer]

I've always considered "established" off of the definition of a HILO or hold in lieu of (cource reversal) which says "the holding pattern maneuver is completed when the aircraft is established on the inbound course after executing the proper entry."

 

[tgrayson]

Speaking of Hold.. I'm not sure if this is covered here somewhere, but what do you guys consider "established in the hold"?

No such thing, really, since the AIM doesn't define it. The AIM requires reporting upon reaching the holding fix; if ATC asks "report established", that's where I report. A controller doesn't have any better definition, since it's not defined in the Pilot/Controller's glossary or in the 7110.65, Air Traffic Controller's Handbook.

Also, do you have to go 4NM or as depicted on the RNAV approach if you're doing a procedure turn or a hold for that matter? the AIM makes it seem as if its when you start the turn not as a limit!

Those are leg lengths. You start your turn at 4 nm.

 

[MidlifeFlyer]

I asked a comntroller about "established in the hold." The different lanuage than the "official" report of initially reachin gthe holding fix means that it (surprise!) means something different - that the entry maneuvering has been completed.

It may be related to a blurb in FAA Order 7130.3 (Holding Patterns) that talks about non-obstacle-related reduction areas once an aircraft is "established in the hold" (so I guess it means somehting):

==============================

2-26. REDUCTION AREAS NOT RELATED TO ENTRY PROCEDURES. Reduction areas may be eliminated as follows:

a. When aircraft enter the holding area from directions other than described in paragraph 2-23, protection of the fix end reduction area may be discontinued after entry is completed and the holding aircraft is established in a racetrack pattern.

b. When aircraft enter the holding area from directions other than described in paragraph 2-24, protection of numbered area 4 may be discontinued after the holding aircraft initially becomes established on the inbound holding course, subsequent to entry.

c. The provisions of paragraph 2-26b also apply to numbered area 3 when numbered patterns 7 and 8 are used at or below 14,000'.

d. No reduction is authorized for obstacle clearance purposes.
==============================

Best I've been able to figure in conjunction with my controller friend, it reduces the amount of protected area for ATC traffic control purposes (not obstacle clearance purposes).

No, "established in the hold" is not a phrase defined in the PCG, AIM or Controller handbook. But "established" is. Sometimes, it's pretty much English.

 

[tgrayson]

It may be related to a blurb in FAA Order 7130.3

As far as I can tell, ATC has no procedures in place to apply the criteria in this order. I also think that ATC does not have in their possession the templates mentioned in the order, so it makes any airspace reduction moot. And I suspect most controllers have read the order.

No, "established in the hold" is not a phrase defined in the PCG, AIM or Controller handbook. But "established" is. Sometimes, it's pretty much English.

Not in any meaningful way. Now, if they said report established on the inbound, you'd have something.

As we've discussed before, I doubt ATC has any idea of what "established" means, it's just a word they use. If they had any interest in pilots having the understanding that "established in a hold" meant the inbound leg, it would have been published in the AIM, since it's an ATC document.

 

[MidlifeFlyer]

As we've discussed before, I doubt ATC has any idea of what "established" means,

On the other hand, I suspect that ATC has at least a 6th grade English comprehension level.

The ongoing/repeated discussion of whet "established" means is, I think, somewhat ridiculous. The AIM's definition is plain English. Yes, it lacks the precision of, say, the ICOA definition in terms of degrees deflection from centerline, but so what? There are way too many discussions where one side of it seems to have the need for a level of complexity that just isn't there and probably isn't warranted.

==============================
We use it from time to time to mark the time that you are established in holding. We then can actually stop radar separation and go into procedural separation if we need to with other traffic.
==============================

That's from my controller friend.No, he doesn't have the "templates." No, he's never really made a connection to the FAA holding criteria order. That's entirely my supposition, and might be completely off.

But "report established in the hold," whether in the official ATC guides or not, is a phrase that is in fact =used=, and to pretend that it doesn't exist and is not worth understanding seems a bit silly.

 

[tgrayson]

The AIM's definition is plain English.

Being written in "plain english" is no guarantor of having meaning. Read a book on theology sometime.

The AIM's definition of "established" doesn't tell you anything you didn't know before looking the word up. And the meaning is of utmost importance; it will keep you from hitting granite in the IFR system. The FAA is aware of this and will probably adapt the ICAO's definition in the future.

Anyway, even that doesn't matter in this instance. A hold isn't a course, it's a maneuver and even the lame AIM definition doesn't pertain to it.

But "report established in the hold," whether in the official ATC guides or not, is a phrase that is in fact =used=, and to pretend that it doesn't exist and is not worth understanding seems a bit silly.

Very much worth understanding, but you're taking an obscure reference and bending it to fit a very unlike situation. If ATC is not applying the reduced holding pattern criteria, then the significance of being established on the inbound course evaporates.

As for "mark the time that you are established in holding", yes, I've been told that too, but that's the reason for the required report for arrival at a holding fix. The idea that you need to make *two* reports to ATC is silly.