Easy way to teach holds?

[Dr Pokenhiemer]

Congrats!! A lot of people make things more complicated than they have to be when trying to instruct. Look at your holding fix, draw your holding pattern, then imagine you arrpoaching the fix from different directions. Then ask yourself one question--What's the easiest way for me to hit the fix then get turned around heading the correct way for the holding pattern? If it's teardrop or parallel, always make your turn to the inside of the pattern.

 

[chriskcmo]

I had a good friend who's an FAA inspector teach me this little trick. He learned it from a old crusty TWA captain.


Depending on whether you're doing right or left turns in the hold, you choose your right hand (for right turns). Hold your hand out, palm facing you (you should know holding like the palm of your hand). Now, stick your thumb out at an angle. Place your hand on the DG or HSI with the miniature airplane sitting where your thumb attaches to your hand, palm still facing out.

Whereever the radial that you're holding ON sits in relationship to your hand, you do the following:

If it is in the area between your thumb and index finger, it's a teardrop entry (if you look, you can kind of see a "teardrop" formed by your thumb and finger).

If it in the area between your index finger and your little finger, it's a parallel entry (the fingers are parallel to eachother).

And if it falls anywhere else, it's direct.

Go try it sometime in an airplane or sim. Works every time.

 

[MFRskyknight]

The way I was taught to conceptualize holds (not that long ago) that really made it simple was by intially breaking down the holding clearance and drawing it out like so:

ATC: "Cessna 123, hold west on the ABC VOR 263 radial 12 DME, left turns..."

1) Draw a point (the fix). Draw a line sticking out to the west of it, with an arrow pointing towards the fix. There's the inbound course.

2) Write the exact radial/bearing (263) off to the side somewhere for reference.

3) Draw the racetrack according to standard or nonstandard turn direction, with another arrow pointing opposite for the outbound course. Label the inbound/outbound courses (083/263, respectively).

4) Hold your pen across the fix at 90 degrees to the course, then slant it about 20 degrees in the direction of the outbound course, and draw that line through the fix.

5) Anywhere on the side of the line with the larger part of the racetrack body is a direct entry. On the other side, the sector that contains the small end of the racetrack is parallel, and the sector that contains no part of the racetrack is the teardrop. Because it's sad. 'Cause it don't have no part of the holding pattern in it, see?

Clear as mud?

MFR

 

[MFRskyknight]

I had a good friend who's an FAA inspector teach me this little trick. He learned it from a old crusty TWA captain.


Depending on whether you're doing right or left turns in the hold, you choose your right hand (for right turns). Hold your hand out, palm facing you (you should know holding like the palm of your hand). Now, stick your thumb out at an angle. Place your hand on the DG or HSI with the miniature airplane sitting where your thumb attaches to your hand, palm still facing out.

Whereever the radial that you're holding ON sits in relationship to your hand, you do the following:

If it is in the area between your thumb and index finger, it's a teardrop entry (if you look, you can kind of see a "teardrop" formed by your thumb and finger).

If it in the area between your index finger and your little finger, it's a parallel entry (the fingers are parallel to eachother).

And if it falls anywhere else, it's direct.

Go try it sometime in an airplane or sim. Works every time.

Wow!!! It does work!

MFR