Hold entries

[clanger32]

Hi all,
Does anyone have an easy, quick and accurate way (rule of thumb) for working out which entry to a holding pattern you should execute?

I am pretty good and just being able to feel which entry it should be and I can of course subtract 70 degrees from the Axis leg and blah blah blah, but one of these doesn't fulfill accurate and one doesn't fulfill quick!

I guesss I'm wondering if theres a similar mnemonic to LARS which I use for working out my abeam point and gate positions.
any help appreciated

[lc_aerobatics]

I find it really easy looking at DI , you position aircraft on the bottom and take center of your DI as your fix with a radial going away. Works really easily and you can train it here.
http://www.lunabase.org/~faber/Vault/software/hold_quiz/applet.html (http://www.lunabase.org/~faber/Vault/software/hold_quiz/applet.html)

Now I have a question.
With regards to max holding speed. We all know that it should not be above 250kts bellow 10k' however in FAA books I found following speed restrictions due to max bank angle.
0-6000ft - 200kt
6000-14000ft - 230kt
14000-UNL 265kts.
Does it apply to europe ?

[ChrisLKKB]

For non published holds (which I don't think i've ever done in the UK) I used a similar technique to the above.

Picture yourself at the bottom of the DI with the centre being the fix and draw in the hold

If the instructions were to

Hold south of the XYZ VOR
on the 180 deg radial.
at 5000 ft
left turns

Picture yourself at the bottom of the DI,
mentaly draw your a line on the DI from 180 to the center
mentaly draw in your left outbound turn followed by the outbound leg the inbound turn and the inbound leg to complete the picture.
mentaly draw in the dividing line that denotes the different sectors of the hold then use the following accroym to figure out your entry

NDB TOP

(Nose=Direct Body=Teardrop Outside=Parallel)

The nose being the small area inside the holding pattern, the body being inside the main 'body' of the pattern and outside being self explanitory.

so for eg if your track takes you over the fix and into the nose of the hold it will be a direct entry. If your track takes you over the fix into the body, do a tear drop entry and if you cross the fix to the outside of the hold do a parallel entry. (NDB TOP).

You can apply this to published holds by using the reciprocal of the inbound leg when forming your mental picture (which is iirc is conveniently printed on the outbound leg of the hold to save on mental arithmetic, if it's not , pencil it in before you go).

With a bit of practice you can do this quite quickly and accurately but you need to do it when you are heading direct to the hold.

Now I have a question.
With regards to max holding speed. We all know that it should not be above 250kts bellow 10k' however in FAA books I found following speed restrictions due to max bank angle.
0-6000ft - 200kt
6000-14000ft - 230kt
14000-UNL 265kts. that's the FAA...they have can have slightly different rules, I don't remember the speeds though as i've never flown an aircraft capable of exceeding them :}

[Der absolute Hammer]

Maybe this helps, not a mnemomic but easier even?

Flying toward the fix.
Check heading on DI.

Lay a line, left or right of the heading on the DI for 70 degrees, depending on whether the pattern is left or right. If left/left, right/right.
If the outbound hold leg falls within that 70 degrees it's a Teardrop.
The 110 degrees the other side is obvious enough once you've laid off the 70 degrees.
Anything else, for a Direct entry is also easy enough.

[G SXTY]

Enter the holding fix, inbound course and direction of turn into the FMS and press 'DTO HOLD'. Works a treat. :ok:

(Sorry, couldn't resist. That's what happens when I'm sat at home with a cold and too much time on my hands).

Look on the bright side, once the IR is out of the way you can forget all about working out hold entries.

[mierda]

Normally I cant be asked to calculate stuff, so this is what I do:

1-Align your course indicator with the inbound track of the hold
2-Place your pencil/pen on the HSI and position it so its in the centre of the instrument.
3-for standard holds (left) the pen/pencil should be 70 degrees to the right of your heading. You have now divided the HSI in two.
4-And now imagine a line coming down from your current heading to the centre. You have now divided the HSI in 3; a section that is 70 degrees, the next section is 180 degrees, and the last section is 110 degrees.
5-The tail of your course indicator will be in one of these sections, that will correspond to the hold entry. 70 deg. section= teardrop, 180 deg. sect.= direct, and 110 deg.= parallel
Hope this makes sense!, and that it helps
Good luck

[bArt2]

With regards to max holding speed. We all know that it should not be above 250kts bellow 10k' however in FAA books I found following speed restrictions due to max bank angle.
0-6000ft - 200kt
6000-14000ft - 230kt
14000-UNL 265kts.
Does it apply to europe ?

Yes it does, but I don't really get your point because you will not be exceeding 250 KIAS below FL100.