When's The Last Time You Had To Hold?

[FN FAL]

That sounds pretty sweet...but you still haven't told me how to enter the hold backwards....I'm waiting...you know...just for one of those things to make ATC go, "huh?"

(for those of you that can't tell...no...I wouldn't actually enter a hold backwards and tie up airspace for kicks, but FN told a story a few months ago about entering a hold backwards during his training and I wanted him to explain it to me then and he still hasn't...but no...I wouldn't actually do it so spare me the lecture)

-mini

Hahaha mini, that was at that craptacular 141 school I went to at CRG called Shields Aviation.

It was one of those fall days in Florida, the ceiling was maybe 6,000-7,000 ovc. Vis below was probably that 10 miles and hazy Florida type of vis. The ride was as smooth as driving a boat on a glassy lake at night and there wasn't any wind aloft to speak of. Which made being under the hood easy...as well as the instructor being hung-over.

We went over to St. Augustine to practice holds and I'm under the hood. I cross the fix and go outbound on the radial/localizer (it was 92...it's been a long time mini!) to do a parallel entry and after one minute, instead of making a 270 back to intercept...I make a one minute standard rate turn and wind up paralleling the inbound course. A minute goes by and I make a one minute standard rate turn again and viola! I'm crossing the fix and outbound on the inbound course...AGAIN!

This goes on for about three or four more trips around the holding pattern. Keep in mind that this is Sunday before lunch and it is really quiet on the radio. JAX approach calls us up on the radio, breaking the morning quiet with, "I don't mean to interrupt your training, but do you guys know that you are flying the holding pattern backwards?"

My instructor, who was sleeping unbeknownst to me, pops too and answers the radio...next thing you know we are well on our way to leaving the scene of the crime. He must have got flustered that we in violation of some FAR or something, because it sure seemed like he wanted to get the hell out of there in a hurry. I don't remember if we were on an IFR or just doing the hold VFR with flight following.

That's all that happened mini...

 

[flyfastinmy10]

Flying my 172 I never held. In the Seneca I held once. In the Citation 500 series I held sometimes. In the Citation X I held more. Now in the Airbus 320 I hold quite often. The reason is because of the destinations.
Flying in the northeast in all kinds of weather with loads of traffic, holding is common. Now with RVSM airspace you can put double the traffic in route but everyone still needs sequenced for landing.

 

[rchcfi]

At my home airport (which is extremely slow), we get a rush between 1700-1800 of the C208s, C402s, etc doing freight. So in the winter when the weather is crap, I find myself holding at the OM quite a bit because that is the time frame my charters always seem to be arriving back home.

Off on a side note, I was #2 for the approach a couple of weeks ago and was told to descend to 9000. Then 5 minutes later I was told to climb back up to 11000 to let a Skywest in. And since I was already in the high orbit, center went ahead and let another freighter in before me 'cause he was coming from an airport only 40 miles away and "was already low".

 

[typhoonpilot]

Flying into Heathrow you will almost always do at least one turn in the holding pattern. Last time in, four days ago, we did 26 minutes over LAM as they transitioned to Low Vis approaches on 27L.


TP

 

[88_MALIBU]

Flew a hold last Friday at an NDB for an airline interview in a desktop sim... That was fun!

 

[Dodge]

I hold every time I have to go into Philly. "An A319 reported 2 clouds within 30 miles of the field....EFC time of 1200, time now, 1105." What a joke.

 

[trip]

The best hold I ever had- Checked in with app at PNS and was told get ready to copy holding inst. We are surprised because it was severe clear and of course we had no holding fuel. After some complex instructions that made no sense, we asked again and the controller said "fly down the beach and maintain 3,000-I'll call your turn back".
Now this we understood and complied with. Turns out a cessna backfired on the runway after cobbing take-off power and promptly caught fire. Aircraft was sitting on the runway with fire trucks aimed at it.

 

[minitour]

We went over to St. Augustine to practice holds and I'm under the hood. I cross the fix and go outbound on the radial/localizer (it was 92...it's been a long time mini!) to do a parallel entry and after one minute, instead of making a 270 back to intercept...I make a one minute standard rate turn and wind up paralleling the inbound course. A minute goes by and I make a one minute standard rate turn again and viola! I'm crossing the fix and outbound on the inbound course...AGAIN!
*chop*
That's all that happened mini...

That's all???

Man...I had a hard time learning how to time the outbound leg to have one minute inbound...hell dude...that's freakin phenomenal!!!

Awesome man...you're my new hero!

-mini

 

[HAL]

On the first of this month, going into IAH (Houston) at about 8:30pm local. A large thunderstorm drifted over the field, shutting off arrivals. We were about 50 miles out and given a fix on the arrival to hold over. We did about three turns, then they slowed us down and brought us in. We had extra fuel for this possibility, but were beginning to look at going to San Antonio if we were there another 30 minutes or so.

Also, in nine months of flying Navajos out of Fairbanks Alaska (Oct '03 to July '04), I had six holds (most at Fort Yukon) because the weather went below minimums for the approach. So in that flying, it was about one hold every 1 1/2 months.

HAL

 

[FN FAL]

That's all???

Man...I had a hard time learning how to time the outbound leg to have one minute inbound...hell dude...that's freakin phenomenal!!!

Awesome man...you're my new hero!

-mini

I wouldn't call it anything phenomenal...I paid for a wide awake instructor, not some hung over FSU ex football great who snoozed at the wheel. He's probably a check airman now at some national like gAy-T-A.

 

[minitour]

I wouldn't call it anything phenomenal...

On the instructor's part, no...it wasn't...

But the fact that you were able to time the legs to turn "outbound" and cross the fix at the right times...man...that's pretty dang good!

-mini

 

[FN FAL]

On the instructor's part, no...it wasn't...

But the fact that you were able to time the legs to turn "outbound" and cross the fix at the right times...man...that's pretty dang good!

-mini

Hehehe...even a blind squirrel gets a nut now and then.

 

[minitour]

Hehehe...even a blind squirrel gets a nut now and then.

haha "Mounds don't" haha

Thanks for the laugh!

-mini

 

[wingnutt]

dam...you guys got it easy. if you havent held in awhile may i suggest;

1)some mountain flying? you know, a few of those "land on 31, takeoff on 13" type places that are surrounded on 3 sides by sharp, pointy, rocky things.

2)then to make it more fun, throw in a non-towered environment which makes the hold even longer cause some dumb@$$ "forgets" to call in and close his flight plan because hes too busy taxiing around trying to figure out where to park.

3)now mix in a few low clouds, nothing fancy...2,000 feet ought to do it.

blend all three in a bowl just long enough to moisten the batter, but not break up the lumps and i guarantee you will have a perfect holding scenario

 

[Lrjtcaptain]

If you want to hold in your career, then fly into SFO when they are operating on a Southeast configuration I.E. landing on 19R/L. If you are in bound on the Golden Gate 4 arrival expect nice delays at Pt. Reyes. Sitting in the tower on those days I see about 7 in the hold, stacked on ontop of the other, skywest EMB's mixed with UAL777's and KLM and all those guys. It happens quite frequently there. Never see the OAK inbounds hold. Maybe cause they aren't as busy....

 

[ATCER]

I guess no one here flys into PHL or EWR ... we hold for them just about every day. IAD is another one... the center holds daily for them.

Then again, I heard another aircraft ask ATC what the "hold as published" meant since they were too lazy to dig up the chart.

-Neal

Happens more then you would think...

 

[Kingairrick]

I'm holding it right now...anyone want a picture?

 

[User546]

I'm holding it right now...anyone want a picture?

No, but what about one of your wife I keep hearing so much about!

 

[FlyChicaga]

About two months ago, inbound to CLE. Before that, new-hire training.

A better thread: When's the last time you've flown an NDB approach in actual? Last year here...

 

[Flechas]

Last hold, 1 in Jan and 1 in Dec, going into EWR.
While flying GA, only had to hold once in Mariana, FL. A lear was doing the approach and there is no tower there, the lear went missed and I did the approach, then the lear landed
Lats NDB in actual, last year, had to go missed the firsttime around, landed the second try.