Check this article out:http://www.avweb.com/news/airman/184487-1.htmlAOPA.org has some good articles as well.

Here's the FAA's official version. http://www.airweb.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_G...LE/AC90-66A.pdfThe "procedure turn" like maneuvers in the article posted in the previous post by Kerosene31 are a little suspect. Basically, you should either descend to TPA and if your inbound direction of flight permits, establish a course on a 45 degree entry to the downwind. Alternately, if you are arriving from the opposite direction, you can overfly the airport at 500' - 1000' over TPA, fly out a couple of miles, and descent to TPA while turning back to a 45 degree entry course. You can also make a midfield crosswind entry at TPA and turn downwind, but this not as widely recommended and can conflict with other traffic on downwind and on a proper 45 degree entry.

also keep an eye on the heading indicator for your rwy #, this way you can tell if you're 45/90/180 etc from it....so even if you over-fly or get a bit off course, you're still lined up w/ the rwy.-fz

I think my terminology wasnt totaly there, the lesson is for a parallel entry into a hold position not for entry into landing pattern. Thanks for the info, Wannabee Pilot with no finances!!!!!

Hi,See if this helps clear things up:http://www.stoenworks.com/Hold%20it.html

Hi Dan,A parallel entry is perhaps the hardest of all hold entries, and particularly if done at or close to a VOR (where your CDI will be pinned, so you don't really know where you are). This entry is used when the outbound radial or track that you will be holding on (although you will be later flying the reciprocal into the fix on the radial or track) is between 0 degrees and 110 degrees left of the aircraft's heading as you approach the holding fix- and that's for standard right turns in a hold.Once over the fix you fly outbound on that radial, then for a right turns hold (standard) you turn LEFT until you are at a 30 degree intercept with the reciprocal of the radial (that's 180 degrees plus 30 = 210 degrees), then intercept the radial, fly the radial inbound to the fix and continue the hold.That's the FAA's official version. If I ever enter a hold and I don't have an examiner with me making sure that I do it correctly, for probably a 10-20 degree left turn to intercept the radial I would try a teardrop entry. For between a 90-110 degree left turn (the last 20 degrees of the arc that defines a parallel entry), I would try a direct entry. As long as you stay in protected airspace and on the protected side of the radial at all times, I would always choose a parallel entry last. Of course, there are times when you have to do them, and wind can dictate that there is no option but to do one. A bit like "circle-to-land" approaches, use them only when they are really necessary. It goes without saying that the examiner will almost certainly want to see you do one of these :).If the wind is blowing you back towards the radial as you do your 210 degree turn, and you're close to the VOR so your CDI is very sensitive, you might cross the radial before you have got to your 30 degree intercept angle- unlikely, but it could happen. What's more likely though is the wind is blowing you away from the radial during your long turn and you never get back to the radial when you get abeam the fix. That means that you are still not in the hold, so it's not a simple 180 degree turn- or you may miss the fact that you have overshot the fix at all, then you are in some trouble as you are in airspace that the controller does not want you in (unprotected).Bruce.

Thanks for the link that helped explain what was expected on the parallel. I had a hard time figuring out the amount of degrees of the left turn to get to the radial i was using about 270 degrees then hard right to get to the radial to fly back to the fix. Sure hope that doesnt have to be done for the examiner for real. Till another problem pops up, Thanks, the Wannabee!!!

The link to the pdf returns a HTTP 400 - Bad RequestInternet Explorer Thanks.

Hope this is the right forum. I am trying to learn the pattern entry procedure in MSFS2004. On the parallel entry lesson It looks like after the 1 minute time from turning to 140 from 160 i have to make a 270 degree turn to the left and then hard right to line up on the 320 radial. Is this the correct procedure or am I missing something? I keep ending up all over the sky trying to get lined up. thanks Dan

I just wanted to add that I replied to Kerosene the other day in a rude manner and for that I'm sorry. Sometimes e-mail and forum postings are a poor form of communication, and I completely misunderstood his meaning, used poor judgement, and needlessly was rude.

Cheers Neil.

>>Hope this is the right forum. I am trying to learn the pattern entry >>procedure in MSFS2004. On the parallel entry lesson It looks like after >>the 1 minute time from turning to 140 from 160 i have to make a 270 >>degree turn to the left and then hard right to line up on the 320 >>radial. Is this the correct procedure or am I missing something? I keep >>ending up all over the sky trying to get lined up. thanks DanNot a 270 degree turn. I don't know the procedure , but from your description I think this hold looks like this:http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/145227.jpgNot a 270 deg turn, a 210 deg turn to intercept the inbound radial quickly but managably. A 270 would result in a 90deg intercept and if you flew the join well, if would be difficult to avoid overshooting on intercept, especially if using a VOR/HSI without an RMI. Basically, at 2nm from the beacon (about that if you flew the join well), 120kts (a typical light twin hold speed) and a 60 intercept, you start your rate one turn to the right as soon as you have 10deg to go...that means as soon as the VOR CDI needle starts to move with the inbound radial selected and the TO flag showing on the VOR.Remember, ALL turns at rate one and all timings and headings on the plates are for STILL AIR. If you have real weather on, you will no fly a decent hold without adjusting headings and timings for the wind.Trick of the Trade: 90deg Rate On Turn anticipation degrees = (GS/60 * 20) / Distance from Beacon. Halve the result a 60 deg intercept and quarter it for a 45 deg . No anticipation for a 30deg intercept.

Thats what the diagram should look like. It seemed that I was getting to the fix before getting the cdi needle centered using a standard rate turn. I have been flying this for about 30 min each evening and trying different intercept degrees. Ill try it at 210 degrees from the 140 heading. Thanks. Im still a wannabeee with no finances and in 30 days no job for 3 months. Thanks guys.

If you still have problems, post a track trace screenshot and I'll be able to tell you exactly where you are going wrong.

To further amplify on the use of the HSI to keep you orientated to the runway AND the traffic pattern, this is what I do when the HSI has a course arrow and a heading bug. First, I try and use the ATIS for wind info. I then set the heading bug to correspond to the direction the wind is coming from.Second, select the runway that is closest to the wind direction, ie wind 280, use runway 27. I then set the course arrow on the HSI to the runway heading, ie 270 degrees.I now have a picture on the HSI representing the layout of what I should expect to see during the pattern entry and the pattern legs. It's easy to see the 45 degrees and 90 degrees that are used in the pattern legs when compared to the course line arrow (runway) on the HSI.When I'm lined up on final, the course arrow points straight up to the runway heading and the heading bug shows me which direction the wind is coming from when compared to the runway heading.