Parts of the pattern
Select a term to highlight it on the diagram. Flip the holding direction to show how a nonstandard hold mirrors across the holding course.
When to start the outbound timer
AIM 5-3-8- Over the fix
Turn outbound in the pattern direction. Don’t start the timer yet: the one-minute turn would use up most of the outbound leg, and the inbound leg comes out short.
- Abeam the fix
Start the timer here. This is the normal case: abeam the fix, or over the fix if that comes later.
- Can’t tell where abeam is?
Only then, start the timer when the turn to outbound is complete: wings level.
“Outbound leg timing begins over/abeam the fix, whichever occurs later. If the abeam position cannot be determined, start timing when turn to outbound is completed.”AIM 5-3-8, Timing
Finding abeam on a VOR hold: with the OBS on the inbound course, the TO/FROM flag flips as you pass abeam the station on the outbound leg.
Maximum holding speeds
| Altitude (MSL) | KIAS |
|---|---|
| MHA – 6,000 ft | 200 |
| 6,001 – 14,000 ft | 230 |
| 14,001 ft and above | 265 |
A charted or ATC-assigned limit may be lower. Start slowing within 3 minutes of the fix.
Leg timing
- Inbound leg: 1 min at or below 14,000 ft MSL, 1½ min above.
- Outbound timing starts over or abeam the fix, whichever is later.
- Fly the first outbound leg for the standard time, then adjust.
- DME/RNAV holds use distance legs instead of time.
Turns & reports
- Bank: the least of standard rate, 30°, or 25° with a flight director.
- Report time and altitude reaching the fix, and when leaving it.
- Tell ATC right away if you need more than the maximum speed.
- Left turns must be charted or assigned.
From clearance to entry
Set the holding instructions, drag the airplane to where it arrives from, and the sector it lands in lights up with the entry flown out in beads.
Drag airplane to move location
This session
Decode before you choose
- Turn the radial into the inbound course: add or subtract 180°.
- Find the holding side: right of the inbound course for right turns, left for left turns.
- Picture the 70° line through the fix and see which sector you arrive from.
- Say the entry and the first heading out loud before the fix.
Wind correction and timing
The simulator flies the hold through the air mass at standard rate. Compare outbound corrections, then watch the inbound time settle as the outbound leg is adjusted each circuit.
Hold setup
Why triple?
The airplane drifts for about three minutes before it’s back on the inbound course, but you only correct during the one-minute outbound leg. That leg carries three times the inbound correction, in the opposite direction.
More or less than 180°?
Rule of thumb: when the wind blows you toward the holding side, turn more than 180° outbound and less than 180° inbound. When it blows you away from the holding side, do the opposite.
Instructor’s read
Circuit log
Outbound time runs from abeam the fix (or over it, if later) to the inbound turn. Inbound time runs from rollout, wings level after the inbound turn, to the fix. The AIM and FAA handbooks don’t say where to start the inbound timer; this trainer uses rollout.
Hold planner
The risk-management side of holding: speed and leg time for the altitude, when to slow down, and how long the fuel lets you wait for that EFC.
Speed & leg time
EFC & fuel
“After the hold” covers the approach, a missed approach and the flight to the alternate. Reserve uses the same burn rate.
The 5 T’s at the fix
- Time
Note the time at the fix; start the outbound timer abeam the fix (at wings level if you can’t tell where abeam is).
- Turn
Turn in the pattern direction to the outbound heading with the wind correction applied.
- Throttle
Confirm holding speed, at or below the limit; trim for level flight.
- Twist
Set the OBS or course to the inbound course; suspend GPS sequencing if needed.
- Talk
Report time and altitude entering the hold, and when leaving it.
Fly the airplane first. The T’s are a sequence, not a reason to let altitude go.
Lost comms at the hold
- Altitude: the highest of minimum, expected, or assigned (14 CFR 91.185).
- Clearance limit is the approach fix: begin descent and the approach as close as possible to the EFC, or to the filed ETA if no EFC was received.
- Clearance limit is not an approach fix: leave it at the EFC (or on arrival if none), proceed to an approach fix, and start the approach as close as possible to the ETA.
- No holding instructions and none charted: hold in a standard pattern on the course you arrived on and request further clearance as soon as you can (AIM 5-3-8).
Right-seat error drills
On the checkride the examiner often plays a student who makes these mistakes. Read the situation, say what you see and what you would say, then open the debrief. Correct with prompts before taking the controls.