What's wrong with this holding clearence??

[Captain4242]

To begin, the controller had his hands full; very busy. Because of that, and the fact that other aircraft had similar circumstances, I didn't make an issue out of it; maybe I should have.
We were 10 miles from the intersection, heading about 210.
"Cleared to SWOMP. Hold north 10 miles north of SWOMP on the 030 radial...".
1st, I am already at my hold point. 2nd, why clear me to the fix (past the hold point), then have me double-back 10 miles to get to the hold point? What kind of entry is that?
Really spur of the moment, we eyeballed it, went to the intersection, right turn around for longer than normal, then joined inbound to hold 10 north. Seemed to work out OK, but still really weird.
Any comments or suggestions?

 

[FreightPup]

Most of the holds I've gotten in real life were always a cluster ....
Always cleared to hold at a point about a half mile in front of me or something I already passed and then could never get a word in on freq. I miss the NorthEast, NOT.

 

[81Horse]

Bogus clearance. Controller Training in Progress?

 

[Captain4242]

ATC specifically said...
"Cleared TO SWOMP, hold 10 miles north of SWOMP".
We did get the EFC. Also, were not given left or right turns, so we made a right. ATC instructed us "next time around go left."
It was all crazy!!

 

[Captain4242]

No, ATC specifically said...
"Cleared to SWOMP, hold 10 north of SWOMP".
81 Horse; We did get the EFC, but, we were not given left or right turns, so we went right. ATC said "next time around go left."
It was all a little crazy.

 

[Gorilla]

Those are the kinds of clearances (rushed, super-busy) where the very best thing to do is simply do the best you can, and generally shut up until there's a distinct pause in the radio traffic, which might be a while. It sounds like the sector downstream simply said "no more traffic", forcing your guy to halt who knows how many in their tracks.

If your entry looks a bit ugly, I nearly guarantee nothing will be said. It's a case of you, the pilot, and the controller making the best of a hectic and rushed situation. If the controller starts to grumble or threatens action, you will have a non-standard and quite bogus "Hold at..." command on voice tape that will exonerate you completely.

Just work with the guy to the best of your ability.

added: Weird. I posted this moments ago and it was inserted into the MIDDLE of the thread. Something's up with the board software.

 

[Captain4242]

He was way too busy to be in training.
Guess he just muffed one.
Still wondering if I should've said something rather than "wing it".

 

[81Horse]

Still wondering if I should've said something rather than "wing it".

Probably -- still, no harm no foul this time, it seems.

 

[DCitrus9]

I have gotten similar clearances. It sounds like he was actually trying to make it easy: cleared direct to swomp, but hold at a point ten miles prior to swomp on your current radial (or close to it). You do not fly to swomp then back to the hold, you hold ten prior. The direct swomp just helps to clear any other fixes that could cause confusion or problems.
Maybe that's not what he meant this time, or maybe he didn't say it in a clear enough manner for you to understand.

 

[Holding Short]

What's up guys, " New Guy " here.

Maybe SWOMP was the holding fix and he wanted 10 mile legs on the 030 radial? Maybe he didn't word the clearance correctly. Also, he should of given you an " EFC" time for loss Comm purposes.


HS