A question about holding

[wilcoluca]

Hello flyers,

i need your help. I have just started flying basis instrument flight and i have a question to make you, regarding holding procedure.

Let's assume you're joining an holding pattern with a direct entry. When you get over the station when do you start turning onto the outbound course?

A- Immediately, std turn.
B- After 15 sec, then std turn.
C- Another method, please describe.

I guess it may be influenced by the speed of the aircraft, so let's take as a reference a normal twin-engine piston aircraft.

Do you know any website where I can read some "tips and tricks" useful for flying IFR manouvers????

[ifleeplanes]

It depends on what angle you are joining the hold from within the direct entry sector.

If your joining close to the inbound track then you will just turn outbound via a standard R1 turn, if your joining via a track thats closer to the offset entry (but still within the direct entry sector) then 15 secs before the turn outbound is about right.

Holding isnt an exact science but a good tool is RANT, Radio Aids Nav Tutor, it will teach you it all step by step. Good luck

[flaps to 60]

Wilcoluca

This is always a good one but this is how i was taught.

Lets say the inbound course is 090deg therefore the bisector is going to be 015deg.

If your HDG is between 060 and 120 when joining the its just start your turn over the beacon.

If your comming from the NON holding side and your heading is 30 deg off the inbound (ie HDG 120 and 150) then you continue on your hdg for 10 secs+/- 1/3rd of the wind component over the beacon and then start your turn if its more than 60 deg then its 20secs +/- 1/3rd of WC.

If your approaching form the holding side then again if your between 30 and 60deg of the inbound then you turn over the beacon and when your half way round the turn ie hdg 180 then you level the wings for 10secs +/- 1/3rd of the WC. Over 60deg but less than the bisector "hdg" then its level wing for 20sec +/- etc etc.

It sound complex but it does work and when i taught this in the sim it put your near enough on the correct outbound track well within the protected area.

Dont forget that when entering a hold its done on heading and for all of the above you have +/- 5deg to play with in determining which you choose.

Good luck

[OzExpat]

If the holding relates to a country that uses Pans Ops, I would strongly recommend that you read Volume 1 of Pans Ops before following some of the advice tendered here so far. It will provide guidance that WILL keep you within the protected area. If you can't get hold of that document, it will undoubtedly be spelled out in the AIP for the relevant country.

[wilcoluca]

I really have to thank you all very much for your replies. Does anybody know where I can find some good materials on the web?? Or some text I can buy??

[PropstoMAX]

I was taught the following method;

interception angle (angle between your hold entry track and inbound track of hold) divided by 10 and then multiplied by the groundspeed(nm/min)
eg Right hand hold
inbound track of hold 090deg
hold entry track of 180deg
therefore interception angle is 90deg
divided by 10 gives 9
multiplied by GS (approx 2nm/min for light multi) gives 18secs
So I fly on current track of 180deg for 18secs before commencing rate 1 turn..

:ok:

[low n' slow]

My thoughts on this are: on station passage, make the 5 T call which goes something like this: Turn (to the heading you've computed on forehand) Time (start timing on wings level or abeam the beacon whichever is later) Throttle (check your powersetting and configuration to maintain the target speed) Twist (if flying with an NDB as your primary aid, twist the volume to monitor) Talk (call twr/ctrl outbound or inbound or just recall the next item/clearance, whichever is applicable).

Another point I'd like to make is that since most of your holdings will be made with 1 minute legs, normal WCA will not be sufficient to get back on track if youve lost it. Remember that a strong crosswind will push you way off if your making a downwind turn and you will complete the turn much faster than desired when turning up wind. Therfore, we use at my school the rule of multiplying your normal WCA by 3. When makeing the turn inbound again, check that you have the beacon on your wingtop position (5-10 deg above the 90 deg lubberline). Reduce this if your headwind at this point is storng and increase it if you have a strong tailwind. This check is what my instructors put most emphasis on as it is at this point you are at most risk of undershooting or overshooting.

On the first orbit there is no need to be established so don't chase a QDM that looks like the inboundcourse if it requires you to make adjustments. Really, you can just home in to the beacon and concentrate on getting a good station passage. As for when to turn, just make sure you're past the beacon. Be shure also to correct timing for the winds. I use the inbound leg as a gauge. If timing on that leg is more than 1 minute, i need to shorten my outbound leg.

best regards/ LnS