Get Holding Entries Right Every Time | How a CFI Visualizes Holding Entries | Holding Pattern Entry

There's an easy way to make sure you get your holding pattern entry right every time. This video will show you a trick I use to visualize holding entries. You can use it in the cockpit, and it won't take up too much of your attention, and with just a bit of practice, you'll have holding entries mastered!
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The three entries into a holding pattern are the direct, parallel, and teardrop entry. With the method in this video, you'll be able to tell just by referencing your heading indicator which entry to use in any situation.

[@marleyb5479]

Dude I cant thank you enough for this content. I'm currently doing my IFR training and the way you teach these topics are helping me tremendously. This channel is amazing and ill be sure to recommend it to others! You're a very good teacher and this content is far better than anything out there. Thanks again:)

[@bernauadventures]

100%

[@MrThundercat1989]

Can’t more agree on that. Should have done my training in the US not in Germany😅

[@RambowMusik]

​@MrThundercat1989 do you think your training is subpar? Im a german PPL and always thinking about the differences

[@domanigonzalez7139]

fr . being a pilot is too expensive to fail lessons, thanks for videos like these that teach better than some CFI’s

[@nolanturek3295]

As a CFII. I highly approve these methods.

[@Sam-gl8su]

Hey FlightInsight! New sub here, I’ve just graduated PPL school, and currently studying for my IFR written, I’ve spend lots of money on different programs and online ground schools, until I came across your channel, this is absolutely unbelievable that this material is free of charge, you’re calm soothing voice and clarity is one of a kind, I’ve been watching all of your instrument related vids multiple times, it’s a pure pleasure learning and studying now! I beyond appreciate your work and can’t thank you enough, keep up all the great work! ✌️

[@flightinsight9111]

Thanks, Sam. This might be one of the most thoughtful comments and pieces of feedback I've gotten. Glad to be able to help out!

[@makkavalley9144]

Dude you’re phenomenal. I’ve been struggling with these for months and you’ve made me come to a solid understanding of holds in 5 minutes

[@cesarmo469]

I get it, but I don’t get it. Need much more practice.

[@makkavalley9144]

@@cesarmo469 maybe this can help. Always draw to the fix. Then draw left or right depending on direction. The line told to hold on will be the line parallel to the initial line drawn to the fix

[@TridentCapital]

Great explanation. Where most students get messed up here is that you must be on a heading to the fix before you begin drawing (or visualizing your hold).

[@ShaneSchmidt]

I can not believe that you - in 9 minutes - fixed a very real issue I have had for years, visualizing holds and hold entries without some type of support diagram, chart or drawing. The hand method also was lost on me and real world holds are so few and far between, that practice is minimal. A most sincere thank you! Love your library, but this is one of my favorites.

[@sky173]

I can't believe how I haven't found this channel earlier. Thanks for all this useful information. It's a goldmine.

[@thecorporatepilotdad]

When I taught instrument students 15+ years ago it was very easy to use a screw, obs knob, or some spot on the panel as the fix and visualize the hold around that spot. That spot was the holding fix which is always and the end of the inbound leg, figure left or right turns, then determine the direction from the fix to get the entry quickly. A helpful exercise I did with students was to flip from one approach plate to the next approach (on the ground), pick a spot on the plate and ask the entry type to the hold for the missed approach. Being able to know the entry without thinking about it is key.

[@abbieamavi]

I think this is my new favorite method! A sincere thanks from a CFI, studying for my CFII to better explain the common trouble spots for my future students 😄

[@jorgemorillo2588]

Simple to understand, thank you for being straightforward without overwhelming everyone. Kudos!!!

[@douglashughes3974]

I cannot believe the amount of agony experienced attempting to learn this hold. So many online instructors claiming that their method is the easiest or the simplest. Even the online school I purchased couldn't make it happen. BUT YOU, SIR, DID IT for me! I printed a copy of a heading indicator and simply followed along with you. Also, because the presentation moves to quickly (it's me, not you) for my brain to comprehend, I went to 'settings' and slowed the speed of the presentation to 75%. Thank you!!

[@Tom-mu7zy]

I taught this exact methodology since the late 70"s. Your visual presentation is absolutely perfect.

[@blip9413]

This by far is the most concise, practical tutorial for determining holding pattern entries. Sure, there are thumb rules out there, but they are easy to forget. This one is hardwired into my brain. Bravo!!!!

[@abrahamnemani3907]

Man, you are awesome. The only thing I would have added was how to depict the hold 3 areas are on the VOR prior to determining the type of hold. I know from experience this is a challenge for the novice pilots myself included.

[@flightinsight9111]

I appreciate that!

[@LTVoyager]

I agree. This is the hard part, not actually making the entry and flying the hold, especially on the check ride when the examiner may give you a hold that is very close to the official FAA breakpoint between one entry type and another. Knowing the actual heading breakpoints and how to select the “FAA correct” entry is key and this video unfortunately omitted that most difficult part.

[@abrahamnemani3907]

@@LTVoyager I have come up with the following formula to figure out the type of HOLD for myself. It may sound crazy but if you practice it becomes easy both in flight as well as the written test. Stop the video at 2:29 for the visual and do the following formula. Left +, Right - (Left Turn add, Right Turn subtract in the formula below). In this example obviously we are doing a right hand turn Inbound - 70= Tear Drop 060 - 70 = 350 (The area between 350 -060) Inbound + 110 = Parallel 060 + 110 = 170 (The area between 060 - 170) The rest will be Direct 170 - 350 Hope this helped.

[@aaronrivera5134]

@@abrahamnemani3907 where do you get the numbers you’re using to add/ subtract so the (70) and the (110)?

[@abrahamnemani3907]

@@aaronrivera5134 A formula that I came up with. You need to subtract 70 for Right pattern and add for Left pattern from the inbound leg to get the Tear Drop area. Then add 110 to get the Parallel area. The rest would give you the Direct area. Try to draw this and hopefully it makes sense.

[@josephwhite4716]

Your videos are great! I took a week off training because I was sick, and when I came back I made both of your “Don’t” mistakes that you mentioned 😅Going through your videos once more

[@ahmadsamadzai8255]

Seriously, I can't thank you enough for these tutorials. You are the best.

[@AviAeroAsis]

Best video to learn practical holding method. Using it for a decade. Nice.

[@user-qd4yc4vf7c]

My technique from 40+ years making a living in the cockpit: Cross the fix and turn the closes direction to your out bound heading, do not turn through the teardrop. Turn inbound at appropriate time and either interceptor or proceed direct to the fix and adjust outbound leg for drift. TERPS provides clear space on holding and nonholding side of course for maneuvering .

[@RamiElias-jx2we]

So far this is the easiest and fastest visual method I've seen. Thank you very much for sharing this information

[@flyboyrog3713]

Love the channel and come here often. I only teach two hold entries...direct and indirect. The indirect hold is simply a course reversal like a procedure turn on an approach. Makes things much simpler and there becomes only one maneuver you need to master instead of three. Simple cut the racetrack in half at the fix. Anything on the "long" side is a direct entry, anything on the "short" side is an indirect. Fly outbound 1 minute, 45 degree turn 1 minute, 180 degree turn (magically a minute at standard rate), then intercept inbound. But hey....that's my method but it works. Keep 'em coming!!

[@ansel_av2887]

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!... The feeling of euphoria of comprehending how to enter a hold is amazing. I can truly picture how I would do it. The diagrams I've seen with no headings and the written explanations just didn't do it for me. I couldn't comprehend what entry was correct. Turns out they aren't that hard at all! I even made a paper heading indicator to practice hold entries with to see what I would do. Thank you, again!

[@keithdmello]

Excellently explained in practical terms. This is exactly how I do it.

[@PRGanapathy]

Absolutely brilliant technique - thanks!

[@tsekeithable]

Wonderful explanation, thank you so much !

[@catdaddy8603]

Excellent! I'm studying for the FII written and this helped me tremendously.

[@davidcole4988]

Great video! I've used a similar method myself for years with one slight modification. I bug the inbound course and treat that as the fix rather than the airplane in the center. If you draw your hold off the heading bug at the edge, you remove the ambiguity you mentioned related to confusing the inbound and outbound course.

[@andrewellis2269]

Most precise and simple explanation on this topic. Liked and subscribed. Thank you!

[@flightinsight9111]

Thanks Andrew. Many more IFR videos coming your way with that subscription!

[@larajinn]

I think that this is the one of the best videos to fly a holding but it seems to me that without the CDI aligned we cannot find the TEARDROP, it works good with PARALLEL & DIRECT but not with the TEARDROP . I am amazed, thank you sir

[@alexx8708]

Simply amazing. What a gem of video, very precise and simple explanation! Im feeling much more confident facing my training after this great video Thank you so much!!!

[@frankwang81]

dude ,awesome teaching! this is the best one illustrating holding pattern online. thank you so much!

[@SoloRenegade]

I was not taught this method in my training, but I still came up with it on my own.

[@PilotParker]

Your videos are a life saver. Thank you my guy!

[@vittoriafiorentini8276]

Amazing! Please more videos like this

[@davyandrewbruce]

This was extremely helpful! Thank you!

[@texasman123]

Great video! Super helpful.

[@A-A_Z]

the best channel ON KZbin great job man !

[@flightinsight9111]

Wow high praise for these wonky little videos, thanks so much!

[@earnedwings5206]

Thank you this was very easy to understand!

[@wicked1172]

This approach is very logical, and works the best for me.

[@raccoonair]

Great graphics, makes it clear... well done!

[@flightinsight9111]

Glad to have your eye on the vids as always!

[@stephdachef]

Thank you very much for this clever technique.. I'm going to go try this in the plane now.

[@talreichert]

Experienced IFR pilot here, but nonetheless, this is extremely useful. Keep up the good work!

[@jakew9887]

Great presentation. Thanks

[@pedrorivera5057]

Great video just got my PPL and Working on IFR this video help a lot

[@cyrouskhavari969]

I an glad that, I am not only one that doesnt understands the " thumb method " I find it quite confusing, if anything. I will leave it at that.

[@MatiasMunoz87]

Thank you sir ....almost ready to take the written test for ifr....

[@alanmurphy30]

Amazing video. Do you have any videos or links for DME holdings for when holding for example 9NM from a VOR

[@aviatortrucker6285]

Like all content required for educational purposes, theory puts a lot mind bending scenarios where many tend to over think. In the real world it becomes easier as you do it. The FAA won’t care what kind of entry you do in real life, but they do care on their tests. I remember having to calculate magnetic bearings with the ADF comparing with the actual heading. There used to be actual holds off the NDB. (Hold NE on the 030 bearing, left turns, Expect further clearance 19:30.) A lot of the new pilots would really be blown away on how that worked. Thank goodness technology is taking us from that realm. FlightInsight is the best and easiest way to understand. Many of the knowledge is required for passing all that written test. Great job.

[@mytech6779]

Those NDB holds had obstacle-free buffer areas that were absolutely massive because of nav error tolerances. Proceedure designers hated them because the placement and altitude were so limited due to terrain (At least in semi-mountainous areas.)

[@erickarruda1339]

Thanks a lot... pretty easy to understand...

[@pilotchoi5596]

Best video for aviation ever!!🎉

[@pilotguy8685]

thanks so much for this!!

[@rickoramasldu2001]

Great video man it helps me a lot, one question: we always have to make a homing to the station to determine our holding right?

[@AdamGoodsellOfficial]

10x better than sporty's yet again. Absolutely nailing it!

[@tobylong3725]

Easy as pie. Thanks for that.

[@CTTechGaming]

this is very useful, I am starting to learn these, one thing is how do you know what speed you should do when using the 1 min timer?

[@jwabss]

You are THE BEST !

[@stephenstead7270]

This make sense better than finger and thumb great video mate thank you

[@gregagee4328]

I've watched this video ton to finally understand. I get it, but I guess visualizing in the air is going to take some practice!! Do you not use that 3 segmented pie to help determine which entry to use? On a side note, what software do you use to make these awesome animations? They are so helpful in making confusing concepts simpler and you do a great job with it!

[@francescovella9617]

Amazing explanation thank you.. I thought I was the only one to not understand the thumb method

[@ehsan83]

your content is amazing. Learned something new today and guess what. I'm not even a pilot. Thank you so much

[@jimmybond2382]

Love this video

[@raffialexanian]

Your vids are the absolute best. Just a question. What if the instructions are hold north eat of the vor on the 240 radial? Is that possible? If yes, would that change anything?

[@raychandler116]

Thank you so much for this; it really helps me visualize how to enter the holds. Q: How can I adapt this for NDBs where all I get is the system telling me where the transmitter is relative to my position? Ray in the UK.

[@flyingfish4926]

Excellent channel with so many good videos. I dont understand this video though. It explains very well how to do the 3 different entries but i dont think it explains how to determine which one to use.

[@BenderPY]

Amazing video

[@deanzhou4858]

Thank u so much!

[@flightinsight9111]

You're welcome, Xuan!

[@packergolfer4]

Really good. Finally something clicks with this horrendous topic lol. Thanks so much

[@CamViesky]

just saved me several bottles of Advil. Thank you

[@dr.dansgarage]

Well done

[@FlyingPlaneAndSimple]

I like this. I notice that at 4:10 it seems a lot easier (through wrong I guess) to continue that left turn into a teardrop.

[@philipdias5106]

Not wrong legally you can enter any way you want as long as you remain on the protected side of the fix. This is just technique.

[@manmohanchechi4292]

Thankyou so much.... 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@davidl4097]

The parallel entry.. does it matter if you turn left or right to intercept the inbound course?

[@nicdecaz425]

Fantastic

[@marcellusherrod]

Game-changer.

[@shantalba2385]

great video!!1

[@flightinsight9111]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@jimburford4535]

at 4:38 explain how the inbound is determined when in the cockpit 530 outbound course ? is that a bearing or a heading

[@konturgestalter]

fantastic

[@ricardofogel671]

Thanks for making these diagrams much easier to understand. This method, " placing your pencil on the holding fix and dragging it on the holding radial given by ATC, then returning back to the fix." Still confuses me and leaves room for errors during parallel and teardrop entries.

[@Emrahozair]

best one🤘

[@swagmaster827]

Watched this 8 months ago for my instrument check ride now I’m re watching it 8 months later to review for my ii check ride

[@user-jg1fx3cs7d]

Just curious about why you said oops at the end there

[@calebatha7133]

From my understanding this method requires that you are flying a heading direct to the fix. With a made up fix off of a VOR radial, you would have to use the gps to place a point at the specified DME and then turn direct. After this is done you can then draw the imaginary hold shape on the heading indicator. Maybe I am wrong?

[@pegballou9629]

After a recent checkride our DPE emphasized that once the opposite side of the hold is reached, turn back immediately to the fix. Don’t follow the hold shape outbound as depicted on the GPS or iPad. On passing the hold the second time, you’re “in the hold”. The first part is an entry yo the hold.

[@pegballou9629]

This is for the teardrop.

[@jimburford4535]

0650 can you state instructions in terms of heading to vor hold sw ..

[@Feedback4Utoday]

do you not have an error in saying hold northEast of the vor..... then you draw the hold north West of it?? otherwise very helpful Thanks

[@CallMeBrunner]

What about holding patterns that are right at the limit between two entry types. Say holding on the 178 Radial (I know ATC won't give you holds like this, but they're sometime published on Charts). I believe that 'broken' radials make it hard to transpose mentally on the instrument. Would you say this is still the preferred method of obtaining the correct entry? Don't you need to do the math for those fringe cases? What's your opinion?

[@eltomas3634]

It's easy once you decide if you can make a direct entry or not. So do that first. Once you decide that you can't make a direct entry, then you only have two choices, teardrop or parallel. So first, you can easily see if you can make a direct entry by drawing a long line perpendicular to the radial (90 degrees) that runs directly through the fix and across the body of the hold and cuts perpendicular through the outbound leg. Basically you draw a line that cuts the turn off and separates it from the rest of the hold. Now, on one side of that line you made is all the direct entries. On the other side is the parallels or teardrops. You can easily see how it would be easy to make a direct entry from anywhere on one side of that line. 180 degrees are direct entries, the other 180 degrees are either teardrops or parallels. So once you know it's not direct, you have to decide either teardrop or parallel. So now, just look at what would happen if you flew to the fix and kept going straight. If you kept going straight, your flight path would either take you into the body of the hold or take you outside the body of the hold. If it takes you outside, it's a parallel entry. If going straight would take you inside the body of the hold, it's a teardrop entry. It's that simple. Find out which half is direct first, then if you can't do direct, just see where you are after crossing the fix to decide if it's teardrop or parallel. Inside teardrop, outside parallel. If your path is directly opposite of the inbound leg, then it's always parallel.

[@CallMeBrunner]

@@eltomas3634 Hi Tomas, Thanks for the insights!

[@thomaspreston8278]

Is the parallel part of the parallel entry supposed to be done outside the protected area? I’ve been taught so far to perform the parallel leg inside of the hood, on the protected side. Genuinely curious.

[@thomaspreston8278]

4:53

[@rafeaalharby3580]

If he gives me an imaginary fix with the following instruction. “Hold southwest radial 210, 10 DME, 1 min leg”. Do I still center the needle and go direct to the vor and then I can determine the type of entry OR do I place the 210 radial and intercept it and then determine my entry?

[@pranabgill1310]

Little confused here....wont the 240 radial (reciprocal) be directly over 60? Why is it a little offset here?

[@rackum44]

Is there a frequency you put in to find the fix to even just begin with?

[@robelteshome1544]

Yes. The frequency and identifier of the fix will be published on the appropriate chart. Tune it, listen to the identifier (Morse code), or look at the identifier letters on the corresponding display, and once you are sure you have the right fix then you home towards the fix.

[@flybouy11]

CFII for twenty years. For even more fun hold at the NDB.

[@loupitou06fl]

I'm struggling with this fundamental question: if the main purpose of the hold pattern is to keep an airplane is a "safe zone", then the parallel pattern entry has us fly past the fix on the opposite of the inbound leg direction - in the "non protected" zone of the hold. Isn't this the opposite of the intend ?

[@flightinsight9111]

Hi Pierre-Alexandre. This is a good question that comes up a lot. It turns out there is no "protected or unprotected" side of the hold. There is a maneuvering side which offers more protection, but there is protection on either side, hence why the parallel entry offers minimal maneuvering where appropriate and also keeps us protected from obstacles. The protection area is based on speed, altitude, and other factors, but you can see how they are calculated in the TERPS figure 17-6-1. It's complicated, but the takeaway is that there is protection on either side.

[@jameswadsley3165]

How do you not run into an inbound airplane when you do the parallel entry? If you overfly the fix and turn left to 240 heading, how do you not run into an aircraft flying inbound on the 240 radial (060 aircraft heading)?

[@blusheep2]

Holds are done while on IFR flight plans which are governed by Air Traffic Control. You are always being monitored by them. Say there is weather over the field and so ATC puts everyone into a holding pattern.... They will separate aircraft by altitude, fix, or distance on the radial. So you may be holding on the VOR at 6000, another at 7000, another at 8000 while still others are holding on the same radial but maybe a 25 miles DME fix so that along a single radial you could multiple aircraft holding at different intervals.

[@jimburford4535]

at 1:52 you say a confusing statement. draw a fix at the outbound course - Its not the out bound course ... later in the talk its referred to inbound. .. i missed my checkride because DPE said fly heading to vor and hold on a bearing . .. whence it dealt with the 259 radial . ... so there are hdg to then bearings to or from then the easiest radial since all radials are from the vor.. the confusion comes with the dpe's say track the bearing or trackthe heading or fly heading - bearing etc.. language or tell us if ubclear can we ask to clairify ' what radial' as .

[@derekec]

Rusty. Need to swallow my pride and start from scratch. This seems the best method. I never liked the "opposite hand" method - just kind of gummed up my view of the DG with my hand in the way.

[@flightinsight9111]

Yeah I never really got the hand method. I hope this helps! Best of luck in IFR training

[@brandonwhite2231]

Practice online with Fergo IFR

[@lonelysail906]

👍

[@willieemilien497]

👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿💯

[@jameshuggins7320]

i never understood the thumb thing and i appreciate the effort, but this doesnt make any sense to me either. I always just ask for vectors.

[@flyingfish4926]

The description of how to do the parallell entry does not achieve what I thought was one of the goals of the entry, to stay within the holding pattern, since the initial outbound leg is on the outside of the pattern.Other descriptions I have seen suggest that you intercept the radial for the inbound leg of the pattern and follow that outbound from the VOR before you make the left turn to intercept the inbound leg. That keeps you within the pattern at all times.

[@adamconrad1540]

I Guess my question is, what if they ask you: “to hold on the 240 radial at 10 DME”