Flying Holding Patterns

Just Visualize It

by Crista V. Worthy

Holds happen due to a temporary lack of airspace. For example, bad weather may cause too many aircraft to divert toward a certain airport, an inbound emergency flight suddenly needs priority handling, or another aircraft may be inbound to the uncontrolled field where you’d like to land. When was the last time you had to hold? For many pilots, the only holds they’ve ever flown have been at the request of their CFII or on a check ride or IPC.

Here’s a good reason to always pay attention to the radio: If ATC starts dishing holds out to aircraft ahead of you, assume you’re next and get ready for the hold. To avoid a hold, try asking ATC for an altitude change. Another option if you can maintain VMC to the airport is to cancel IFR, change to an appropriate VFR altitude, and continue on your way. Finally, you can ask ATC for delaying vectors. We did this once going into Las Vegas; too many airplanes were arriving at once and Las Vegas Approach wanted to park us over a mountain in a holding pattern. We asked for a delaying vector instead, and they sent us way out over Lake Mead east of Las Vegas. We slowed down and took a little side trip until we were vectored back in for landing. This may not work in crowded airspace though: ATC may not have room to send you on a vector, or other aircraft may be following you, so you cannot slow down. It also doesn’t work when you’re out of radar coverage or below mountains where ATC can’t see you on radar.

The controller doesn’t care how you enter the hold, so long as you are at the right altitude, turn the correct direction, and remain within the protected airspace of the hold. They won’t ask you what entry you plan to make. An examiner or CFII might ask you, and then, once you have answered, he or she will expect you to execute the hold in that manner. The only reason for the different holding pattern entries is to prevent you from shooting outside the protected airspace.

So how do you start your hold? You can use various mathematical equations, but I just visualize the hold on the chart, as if I were drawing it with a pencil. Look at the chart or the approach plate, and look at the missed approach course and the published hold. As you approach the fix, if your course line takes your airplane inside the hold, then use a teardrop entry. If it takes your airplane outside the hold, use a parallel entry. If your course takes you directly to the holding fix, then use a direct entry. Enroute holding patterns along airways are almost always going to be direct. Missed approach holding patterns are often parallel or teardrop entries; they tend to fit best in the allowable space.

Remember to request a slower speed, unless ATC has already said “speed at your discretion.” In fact, if you slow down immediately when ATC tells you that you are going to have to hold, you may actually avoid the hold altogether if the original reason for your hold gets resolved before you reach the fix. If you slow down, perhaps to approach speed, you’ll save fuel you may need later. Next, mentally review the wind direction and speed, so you can plan ahead for which direction you will tend to drift in the hold. You can use some minor math to correct for wind: Don’t adjust the bank angle of turns, like you would do for VFR reference maneuvers with wind; instead fly them all at standard rate. To correct for wind, calculate your wind correction angle on the inbound leg and triple that on your outbound leg. An 8-degree correction on your inbound leg means you should fly a 24-degree correction on your outbound leg. Many people ask, “Why triple the wind correction angle?” That’s because you fly three minutes after passing the holding fix before intercepting the inbound course again: one minute in the outbound turn, one minute in the outbound leg, and one minute in the inbound turn. The one minute you spend on the outbound leg needs to correct for all three minutes of wind drift, hence triple the correction on the outbound leg. Of course there are limits. If the wind is so strong that you are holding a 30-degree correction inbound, you wouldn’t want a 90-degree correction outbound; this means that the wind is likely too strong to hold in the first place.

Those with glass panels get lots of help on all of this. Some systems will suggest a recommended entry method once you get to within a mile of your hold. Once in the hold, you can see yourself on your moving map, and you may be getting winds aloft reports as well. This greatly simplifies things, but it’s really a good idea to practice holding without the map. It will increase your situational awareness and orientation skills, and you’ll be able to safely carry out your hold if your glass goes dark, and it does happen. Try it: Ask yourself, “Where am I? What am I doing now? What am I going to do next?” Without the moving map, you’ll be visualizing your position within your brain instead of on the screen. This is one of the most important skills of the instrument pilot, and one that needs to be maintained or it will be lost. So grab your CFII or proficient safety pilot, get out there, and practice some holds. You might even start to like them.

In the meantime, keeping your ears open, visualizing your position and the winds, planning ahead, being flexible, and slowing down will make real holds, if you ever get them, much easier.