How to perform a HOLD pattern?

[Guest sr71_sr71]

Hi Folks.Can someone tell me please, how hold patterns generally flown?I have no clue how this would be done in manual flight, and would be interest to hear if GPS can automatically handle the pattern.ThanksDavid.

[propduster 1]

Hi David,You might want to check out:http://www.stoenworks.com/Aviation%20home%20page.htmlAbout 2/3 of the way down, under "Flight Instruction" is a link to holding patterns. Lots of good info there.Hope this helps,

[zfehr 1]

Hi David,I like Darren Smith's short and sweet explanation with diagrams, you can view it here: http://www.geocities.com/cfidarren/r-holding.htm

[Guest sr71_sr71]

Thanks very much, will have a read.

[188AHC 2,138]

If I remember correctly, how to fly the racetrack and holding is one of the lessons in FSX. If I'm confused, I'm pretty sure it's in FS9.The lessons aren't too bad. I still fly some of them once in a while to get the rust off.

[Guest sr71_sr71]

>Hi David,>>I like Darren Smith's short and sweet explanation with>diagrams, you can view it here:>http://www.geocities.com/cfidarren/r-holding.htm>Thanks for your reply also.This one looks much easier to understand, I like pictures :-)Do you know if any of the GPS units in FS can handle hold patterns "out of the box" so to speak? Or is this something that would need to be plummed in, if at all possible?

[Guest sr71_sr71]

>If I remember correctly, how to fly the racetrack and holding>is one of the lessons in FSX. If I'm confused, I'm pretty sure>it's in FS9.>>The lessons aren't too bad. I still fly some of them once in a>while to get the rust off.>>Oh wow, really? Now that would be really cool. I will take a look later.I hope its in FSX, as I just removed FS9 :-(

[Guest azflyboy]

To hold with the G430, all you need to do is press the "OBS" button when you get near the fix you want to hold at (this assumes you are holding over a waypoint already in the GPS flight plan). The GPS will then "lock on" to that fix and won't sequence past it once you cross that point. Once you are finished holding, just hit OBS again and the GPS should sequence to the next waypoint in the flight plan.

[Guest sr71_sr71]

>To hold with the G430, all you need to do is press the "OBS">button when you get near the fix you want to hold at (this>assumes you are holding over a waypoint already in the GPS>flight plan). The GPS will then "lock on" to that fix and>won't sequence past it once you cross that point. Once you are>finished holding, just hit OBS again and the GPS should>sequence to the next waypoint in the flight plan. >Thanks for that, I wil try that out later. Does it only work for loaded flight plans?

[Guest NiteTiger]

If you don't want to load up a new flight plan, just use the 'Direct To' function on the GPS. It'll fly to the designated spot and begin circling, as it has no more waypoints.

[frantzy 4]

>To hold with the G430, all you need to do is press the "OBS">button when you get near the fix you want to hold at (this>assumes you are holding over a waypoint already in the GPS>flight plan). The GPS will then "lock on" to that fix and>won't sequence past it once you cross that point. Once you are>finished holding, just hit OBS again and the GPS should>sequence to the next waypoint in the flight plan. >Note that circling and holding are different. If you're looking for a practical solution (like you need to mow the lawn and you want your plane to stay at your initial approach fix so you can come back later and finish the flight) the above method is effective.If you instead want to simulate the real-world instrument procedure of holding, you need to fly an oval rather than a circle, compensate for wind drift, and follow either published or verbal instructions about where the oval should be relative to the waypoint. The method above would not do that. If I recall correctly, the real world G430/G1000 and real-world autopilots will fly a holding pattern when it exists on the missed approach procedure (but without compensating for wind), but elsewhere you would manually change autopilot headings to make an oval. I'm not sure what the FSX version of the Garmins will do.

[frantzy 4]

...and by the way, for simmers interested in flying real-world IFR procedures, the IFR hold is one of the most challenging aspects of obtaining an instrument rating. Four factors make it hard:1) Visualizing the oval position in relation to the waypoint2) Entering the hold while staying within the oval3) Adjusting the outbound leg of the oval to compensate for tailwinds/headwinds so the inbound leg is exactly one minute long4) Compensating for crosswinds in the straight parts of the oval and in the turns, so the airplane remains within the oval.All of this is important because staying within the boundaries of the hold ensures terrain clearance. If you want to improve your flying skill, mastering the real-world holding pattern is a great way to do it.

[Guest azflyboy]

The directions I gave were for a standard IFR hold. If you don't put the G430 into OBS/SUSP when preparing to hold, it will cycle past the point you want to hold over. Using OBS mode is mostly a convenience for holding over a VOR or NDB, since the G430 will automatically assume you want one turn in holding if there is published holding on a GPS approach.This is much more of a chore than it is in a real aircraft, since FSX doesn't allow you to use the FPL function of the G430 to enter routes into it.

[Guest sr71_sr71]

>To hold with the G430, all you need to do is press the "OBS">button when you get near the fix you want to hold at (this>assumes you are holding over a waypoint already in the GPS>flight plan). The GPS will then "lock on" to that fix and>won't sequence past it once you cross that point. Once you are>finished holding, just hit OBS again and the GPS should>sequence to the next waypoint in the flight plan. >I presume that once OBS is pressed, I simply fly the hold manually?