Help with Holds
 

I am working on my instrument and I cannot seem to understand holds. I get the basics why ect. But when I get in the plane I am unable to transfer the information to do the correct hold besides direct.

Does anyone know a good website, or trick or anything that could help me out? I need help visualizing it.

Thanks!

Well bud, what I used to do is give my students take-home holding problems to practice. They would draw out the hold underneath the questions, and then we would review them before our flight lesson.

Then, when we get into the airplane, I allowed them the use their kneeboard to draw out the hold. Once I felt they were ready to hold without drawing them, I took their notepad away from them. Sometimes they would squirm on the first few holding patterns, but once they saw that they could do it, it wasn't a big deal after that.

Just to let you know...out of all of the IFR maneuvers, holding is the most challenging. It will test your mental endurance, and will bring your situational awareness to a whole new level. DO NOT get discouraged if you hit a few bumps along the way in your IFR training. We have all done it, and we have all gotten through it.

I will be honest. There are times where I still have to draw a hold out on a piece of paper - so don't feel bad if once you pass your Instrument check ride, you have to do the same. (ATC will throw you some funky holds every now and then...)

Good luck! And if you have any other questions, just ask!
Lax

Let me know if this is right - Fly a teardrop. Once I hit the holding fix I will then fly a heading of 240 for a minute. Then will I have to turn right 210degrees to intercept the 90 degree in bound leg? That just does not seem right to me, but I am unsure what else I should do.
This is for St. Petersburg Clearwater, FL AILS Runway 35R.

Thanks!

I'm looking at the ILS or LOC/DME RWY 35R @ KPIE, and I am not quite sure what you are getting at...

(The "D" with the 24 in the middle is 24 DME) So, the holding fix is actually at 24 DME on the 336 radial from SRQ. This hold is a "text-book" Parallel entry. Fly outbound on the 336 radial (the 156 recipricol) for 1 minute. Then a LEFT 210 degree turn (180 degree + 30 degree intercept angle) to intercept the 156 degree TO the SRQ VOR. Then at 24 DME, start your right hand holding pattern as depicted.

This is the instructions I was given:
Take offf KPIE Rwy 35R Intercept the PIE 270R outbound to LAFAL intersection and hold as published.
Depart LAFAL on the SRQ 336 R ... and so on

Here is how I used to teach it. This is a sure fire way to get the correct entry without drawing the hold. Although I still recommend drawing the hold just to get a good visual of what you are doing.

The idea behind this is to section off the heading indicator into the 3 different entry areas.

1. Fly direct to the fix. This WILL NOT work if you do not fly to the fix.
2. Determine left or right turns.
3. Place your thumb on the heading indicator next to your current heading covering approximately 30 degrees.
example: Right turn hold place thumb on the right side of your current heading on the heading indicator. Left turn hold place your thumb to the left of your current heading on the heading indicator.
4. Use this to draw an imaginary line diagonally across the heading indicator.
5. There will always be another imaginary line drawn from the top to the bottom of the heading indicator.
6. You now have sectioned off the 3 general areas to determine hold entry: Direct, parallel and teardrop. Your thumb is the 30 degree teardrop section, below the diagonal line is the direct section and the remaining 150 is the parallel section.

7. Locate your inbound leg on the heading indicator.
8. Where ever the inbound leg falls, that is your entry.

I know it may sound complicated just reading it, but trust me, I have never had a student fail hold entries after they learned this method.

PM me if you have questions. Also, try this website to test my process.

Holding Quiz

For a published hold, you need to look at the picture. For full holding instructions, draw the hold every time until you can see it. Holding, like every other instrument skill, involves some level of repetition. The more often you do it, the more proficient you are.

Start developing your own mental moving map as a Situation Awareness tool. Once you become proficient in how holds look and the entry procedures you can begin to visualize them in the context of where you are, where you are going, and what everyone else is doing. This is an area that is often neglected in Instrument training. Students often have the basic skills to pass the ride, but never develop SA to correspond and function in the system. It takes time and a conscious effort to do this. I'd encourage you to ask your instructor to randomly ask you where you are on an approach plate or enroute chart, while flying.

I think he's referring to the MAP hold at LAFAL. The hold at CURUG is the alternate missed hold.

One day it's just gonna click

I've just found that sketching it on the low en route sometimes helps out...seems to give me a little better orientation about where I am versus what I need to do.