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3 holding scenarios to perfect in a flight simulator

February 15, 2024/in IFR flying/by Redbird Flight Simulations

Understanding and Executing IFR Holding Procedures

February 13, 2024/in Tips and technique/by Eric Radtke

Maximum holding speeds in knots indicated airspeed (KIAS) have been designated for specific altitude ranges. Often pilots can avoid flying a holding pattern or reduce the length of time spent in the holding pattern, by slowing down on the way to the holding fix.

3 holding scenarios to perfect in a flight simulator

February 15, 2024/in IFR flying/by Redbird Flight Simulations

Understanding and Executing IFR Holding Procedures

February 13, 2024/in Tips and technique/by Eric Radtke

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

3 holding scenarios to perfect in a flight simulator

February 15, 2024/in IFR flying/by Redbird Flight Simulations

Editor’s Note: As part of Sporty’s IFR Month being celebrated in February – a four-week focus on the challenges and rewards of instrument flying – we’re pleased to bring you this valuable insight from Redbird Flight Simulations on perfecting holding patterns in a flight simulator.

There is no shortage of articles about using holds in the IFR system. However, in this article, we’ll focus specifically on departure and arrival holds and VCOA (visual climb over airport). While VCOA is not technically a hold, it falls in line with the same purpose of a hold in certain departure procedures.

These techniques can be practiced and perfected in a flight simulator, a valuable use of your preparation time.

Departure Holds

First, let’s look at a departure hold as depicted in the Riverside Muni (Riverside, California) Riverside Two Departure (Obstacle). The basic idea is that you take off and proceed to the Paradise (PDZ) VORTAC and perform a climbing turn in a hold until you reach 5,000′ MSL. At that point, you proceed on course as directed by air traffic control.

It’s a simple concept designed to get you well above the surrounding mountains that would shortly be in your flight path. If you take off from Runway 27, you intercept and track the PDZ R-030 radial inbound and make a direct entry tracking the PDZ R-078 radial outbound, using non-standard left turns. If you take off from Runway 9, you would intercept and track the PDZ R-093 radial inbound, execute a parallel entry, and then track the PDZ R-078 outbound.

As you are holding, you also perform a five hundred feet per minute climb. The tricky part is that you are expected to proceed on course after reaching 5,000′ MSL, so technically, this is sort of your “expect further clearance” information. Nothing says you have to declare entering the hold (unless you’ve been instructed otherwise), but it wouldn’t hurt to advise ATC that you are established and climbing to 5,000′ MSL.

This procedure is challenging in a flight simulator because of the need to maintain additional workload situational awareness. The mountains to the south are a safe distance away, but still, it will make you think about the surrounding terrain in ways you might not think of in Kansas.

Arrival Holds

The arrival hold to an IAF is common and could be assigned, or even required, if you lose communications. Santa Monica Municipal (KSMO) has a fix called DARTS, located on V-186, that serves as the intermediate fix for the RNAV 21 and the VOR-A approaches. The latter has an IAF at ELMOO (southeast), but if you’re flying V-186 coming in from the northwest, you’re not going to be sent to ELMOO and then have to reverse course and double-back.

For both of these approaches, your published altitudes will be between 4,100-4,200′ MSL, so if you were approaching out of 6,000′ MSL on lost comms, you’d have to get yourself established on a hold based on your approaching direction and either wait until your ETA or, begin the descending hold if you arrive after your ETA. Both are good exercises to practice in the simulator.

DARTS can be approached from four different directions on V-186 and V-459, so it’s a great mental exercise to work out the holding course approach math and type of entry. Both the RNAV Z and RNAV Y RWY 3 have an IAF called WAKER with a published altitude of 3,500′ MSL. It’s a GPS fix that is not published on the low enroute IFR chart.

The outbound course for the RNAV Z RWY 3 is 099 degrees, and the outbound course for the RNAV Y RWY 3 is 101 degrees. You would establish yourself on the appropriate inbound reciprocal course accordingly. This gives you a good planning workout in the simulator, as you are now in GPS tracking mode instead of VOR tracking mode.

VCOA

Lastly, let’s look at VCOA as a departure option that’s slightly more formal than a SID. You can read more about it in the Aeronautical Information Manual, 5-2-9, Instrument Departure Procedures (DP) – Obstacle Departure Procedures (ODP), Standard Instrument Departures (SID), and Diverse Vector Areas (DVA).

Essentially, VCOA is designed to keep you from terrain more than 3 nautical miles away and get you going at a climb gradient of at least 200 feet per nautical mile. You take off and perform a climbing turn over the airport within 3nm of the field.

Now, there are some airports (e.g., KHHR, Hawthorne Municipal, Hawthorne, California) where pilots perform a climbing rectangular pattern while in the traffic pattern to gain sufficient altitude to join and fly the LA Special Flight Rules route just west of the field. They need to get to 4,500′ MSL to join the KSMO R-132 and track it northwestbound. A small plane likely cannot get to 4,500 MSL from KHHR in such a short distance, but this variation on VCOA works just fine.

In both cases, it’s important to remember the winds and how they will affect your potential change in direction as you climb. Both for terrain avoidance and LA Class B airspace avoidance (in the KHHR example), you want to maintain your situational awareness at all times.

You can practice all these maneuvers effectively in a flight simulator, where you can add winds and keep sharp for the times you may need to perform a hold in a slightly different context than just going missed. Challenge yourself to maintain your situational awareness and workload during these sessions, and then when you go fly them in the real-deal skies, you’ll feel right at home with aircraft control, safety, and CFIT avoidance.

Understanding and Executing IFR Holding Procedures

February 13, 2024/in Tips and technique/by Eric Radtke

When controllers anticipate a delay at a clearance limit or fix, usually due to a high volume of traffic, weather, or both, pilots are usually issued a holding clearance. If the holding pattern assigned by ATC is charted, pilots are expected to hold as indicated. Patterns at the most generally used holding fixes are charted on Low or High Altitude En Route, Area, Departure Procedure, and Arrival Charts. When ATC issues a clearance requiring you to hold at a fix where a holding pattern is not charted, pilots are issued complete holding instructions. The holding instructions will include:

the direction from the fix
name of the fix, course
leg length (if distance instead of time)
direction of turns (if left turns are required)
the expect further clearance (EFC) time.

Let’s look at holding clearance example below to identify the various components (note the absence of turn direction indicates standard, right hand turns are expected):

Hold north (direction from the fix) of Volunteer on the 360 degree radial (name of VOR fix and course), five mile legs (leg length), expect further clearance at 15:50 zulu (EFC) time now, 15:40 zulu (current time is often issued as a courtesy so that pilots quickly know how long they may have to hold for fuel planning purposes).

Pilots are required to maintain the last assigned altitude unless a new altitude is specifically included in the holding clearance. Pilots are expected to hold on the inbound course using right turns unless instructed otherwide. In the example instructions above, the INBOUND course would be 180 degrees if holding on the 360 degree radial.

When executing a holding pattern above 14,000 feet, the inbound leg should be 1.5 minutes in duration. When at or below 14,000 feet, the inbound leg should be 1 minute. Timing of the outbound leg should begin abeam the holding fix or at the completion of the turn. Fly the first outbound leg at the appropriate standard duration, then adjust subsequent outbound legs so as to make the inbound leg the standard 1 or 1.5 minute duration. This will vary with wind.

Timing of the holding pattern should be adjusted on the outbound leg so that the inbound leg will be the standard duration.

GPS-equipped aircraft have some additional options for holding. Rather than being based on time, the leg lengths for GPS holding patterns are based on distances. The controller, or the applicable chart, specifies the length of the outbound leg. The end of the outbound leg is determined by the distance.

Charted holding procedure on the low altitude enroute chart with 5 mile legs specified.

Because the size of the holding pattern is directly proportional to the speed of the aircraft, maximum holding speeds in knots indicated airspeed (KIAS) have been designated for specific altitude ranges. Often pilots can avoid flying a holding pattern or reduce the length of time spent in the holding pattern, by slowing down on the way to the holding fix.

Maximum holding speeds in knots indicated.

Turns in the hold should be standard rate, but not more than 30 degrees. If you are using a flight director, the maximum bank angle is 25 degrees. Except when turning, you should compensate for the wind. Outbound you should triple the wind correction angle used to track the inbound course. This will distort the racetrack shape, but keep you inside the holding pattern protected airspace.

The racetrack pattern will be distored with appropriate wind correction.

The protected airspace is not charted, but it is shaped somewhat like and centered upon the holding pattern. This puts about 60% of the protected area on the holding side, so the majority of your maneuvering should be on this side.

The majority of your maneuvering should be on the hodling side as this is where the majority of the protected airspace exists.

Holding protected airspace is designed based in part on pilot compliance with three recommended holding pattern entry procedures.

Parallel Procedure. When approaching the holding fix from parrell sector, the parallel entry procedure would be to turn to a heading to parallel the holding course outbound on the nonholding side for one minute, turn in the direction of the holding pattern through more than 180 degrees, and return to the holding fix or intercept the holding course inbound.

When approaching the holding fix from anywhere in the teardrop sector, the teardrop entry procedure would be to fly to the fix, turn outbound to a heading for a 30 degree teardrop entry within the pattern (on the holding side) for a period of one minute, then turn in the direction of the holding pattern to intercept the inbound holding course.

When approaching the holding fix from anywhere in the direct sector, the direct entry procedure would be to fly directly to the fix and turn to follow the holding pattern.

To help determine which sector you fall within when approaching a holding fix, look at where the outbound course falls on your heading indicator or H-S-I when flying direct to the fix. Divide the indicator into three segments as depicted below. And for a standard right-turn hold, and you can visualize exactly what kind of entry is expected.

You can visualize exactly what kind of entry is expected when placing the outbound course on the heading indicator when flying direct to the fix.

The teardrop section is the smallest, only 70 degrees on the right of the nose. At the fix, turn to a heading 30 degrees from the outbound course toward the holding side for one minute. Then turn in the direction of the holding pattern to intercept the holding course.

The direct entry section is the largest, covering a 180-degree arc. Simply turn right outbound and fly the pattern.

The parallel segment is 110 degrees to the left of the nose. Turn to the outbound heading, correct for wind if known, fly for one minute, and then turn toward the holding pattern more than 180 degrees. Return to the holding fix or intercept the holding course inbound.

This method of visualizing the outbound course on the heading indicator is also referred to as the “thumb” method because placing your thumb to the right (for right-hand turns) or the left (for left-hand turns) will approximate the teardrop entry area as decpicted below.

Placing your thumb to the left or right of your current heading can help identify the correct holding entry procedure.

A non-standard holding pattern uses left turns, and the entry procedure diagram has to be flipped so the teardrop section is in the upper left. For non-standard left turns, use your left thumb to mark the 70-degree teardrop section, and the remaining sections fall into place. Right turns, right thumb.

The entry procedure diagram has to be flipped so the teardrop section is in the upper left for left hand turns

It’s worth noting that modern GPS navigators can be programmed for holding procedures and coupled with an autopilot, can also fully execute a hold. There are also devices available to help determine the correct entry.

Are you ready to practice? Test your holding pattern entry knowledge in this interactive holding exercise from Sporty’s Instrument Rating Course.

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Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

3 holding scenarios to perfect in a flight simulator

Understanding and Executing IFR Holding Procedures

3 holding scenarios to perfect in a flight simulator

Understanding and Executing IFR Holding Procedures

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

3 holding scenarios to perfect in a flight simulator

Departure Holds

Arrival Holds

VCOA

Understanding and Executing IFR Holding Procedures

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