In the 1980s, USAF UPT (Undergraduate Pilot Training) was old-school: manual systems, old avionics and an all-in-one HSI/RMI. The entry position at my airline was as a Flight Engineer on the B-727. And in those days, new-hire hazing, I mean training, was administered by old-school, two-stripe flight engineers in a sim and aircraft with exclusively antique systems and avionics. We lovingly called them “steam gauges.” That’s the terminology we boomers used before millennials and Gen-Z started calling them “round-dial.”
While the teaching etiquette of the MD-80 instructors a few years later was kinder and gentler, the focus remained on antique systems and avionics. My Duke’s avionics are similar to the original Mad Dog (all steam gauges except the GPS and transponder). The 737, especially the MAX, and the Citation 650’s (III, VI and VII) I now fly, are more modern. The need for an understanding or an appreciation of antique navigational instruments is fading. But it’s not gone. We were recently given old-school holding instructions from ATC, and the aforesaid old-school knowledge proved useful.
Lions and Tigers and Bears – Oh My!
– Wizard of Oz, 1939
“Citation 7VS I have holding instructions; advise when ready to copy.” The holding clearance was old-school: “Hold east on the RDU 095 degree radial, 35-mile fix, left turns, 10-mile legs, maintain six thousand, EFC 2140.” The approach controller had used his picture of the weather and our location to build a holding pattern outside the rain showers – he was doing us a favor. But the clearance to make this happen was straight out of a simulator exercise, as confirmed by the immediate simulator-like knot in my stomach. Almost exclusively nowadays, holding is issued to a published fix that has a published holding pattern: “Cleared direct OCRAP, hold as published, maintain one-six thousand, EFC 2140.” If not to a fix with a published pattern, then to a published fix with follow-on instructions delineating the desired pattern/parameters at the fix. Very seldom is the pattern defined using an antique and inaccurate reference such as a VOR and radial/DME, NDB or Grandma Leyba’s woodshed. But when it is, we need to know how to enter and fly the pattern. Sometimes we need to figure it out quickly due to a short-notice event at our destination with the resulting short-notice hold.
Microburst: A Show-Stopper
Snow plowing, extreme weather and incidents such as a blown tire or a VIP event are the most common reasons for a short-notice runway or airport closure. But I’ve also encountered unusual reasons like earthquakes, forest fires and social unrest. And I once held for a U.S. President getting a haircut on the ramp aboard Air Force One. Closures due to moderate to extreme weather are common and happen every day. ATC knows we don’t like to hold (and are sometimes not very precise about it). It’s more work for them to construct multiple patterns, so they normally issue speed assignments and radar vectors in order to avoid holding.
That failing, a published holding pattern is their next choice. But inevitably, a few aircraft may need to hold off the grid or “unpublished.” During our arrival into RDU, a thunderstorm overhead had closed the field. The rain shower and resultant low visibility were not necessarily a show-stopper, but the announcement of microbursts was. At the captain’s discretion (that’s you), wind shear is a “proceed with caution” event if the report is not referenced to the landing runway. However, a microburst alert at any location on the field requires an immediate go-around, diversion to an alternate or a hold. Grit your teeth; here are the holding pattern memory items.
The true art of memory is the art of attention.
– Samuel Johnson
We have to memorize four components to get the holding pattern right: entry procedures, direction of turns in the hold, speed and leg length. In the U.S., the maximum speeds (you can fly slower if you want) are 200 KTS below 6,000, 230 KTS from 6,001 to 14,000 and 265 KTS from 14,001 and up. Timing is one minute inbound below 14,000 and 1.5 minutes inbound above 14,000. If not issued a holding leg-length in distance, they expect you to use time. I will always ask for a distance instead of time because it’s easier. And because holding isn’t confusing enough already, ICAO and military holding speeds are different from each other and from the U.S. So, look them up before you leave the country or climb into your fighter and then put a sticky note with the speeds on your forehead (ICAO= SFC to 14k=230, 14k to 20k=240 and 20k to 34k=265 and desired Mach above 34k).
The big thing that will help with holding is to remember there is a “protected” side, which is on the holding side of the radial, and an “unprotected” side. If you fumble around on the protected side, it’s mostly okay. Fumbling around on the unprotected side is bad – write down this number and call ATC bad. And for better or worse, GPS has made ATC less tolerant of any holding pattern excursions. Holding speeds, direction of turns, timing or distance and entry techniques are all designed to keep us in the chunk of airspace that is on the protected side.
T-D-P
Figuring out how to enter a holding pattern was my nemesis for many years. There are countless manuals, study guides and instructor techniques that explain how to enter a holding pattern. I’ve heard most of them and tried to find one that I could remember…and failed miserably. With hopeful optimism and humility, I offer the one that finally made sense and stuck with me: T-D-P (Teardrop-Direct-Parallel). I bought an HPC-2 from ASA (yes, the 25,000-hour pilot needed a visual aid). It’s a handheld card depicting left and right holding patterns with a clear rotating compass card.
Remember the letters T-D-P in that order and that standard turns are to the right and non-standard to the left. For standard, right turn holding, picture an HSI divided in half with the line starting 70 degrees RIGHT of your heading. If your heading is 360, the line starts at 070 and slices over/down to 250. You put the T in the 70-degree wedge, the D below it in the bigger 180-degree wedge, and the P in the remaining small wedge. Now put the holding radial on the HSI and see which wedge it is in. Then, for non-standard LEFT turns, the line dividing the HSI in half starts at 70 degrees LEFT of your heading. Which, if headed 360 is 290, and slices over/down to 110. The T goes in the 70-degree wedge again, the D below it in the bigger 180- degree wedge again, and finally, the P in the remaining small wedge. Put in the holding radial and voilà.
Don’t forget to slow down if needed, report entering the hold, and most importantly, start crunching your fuel remaining in minutes so that you know when to divert. Similar to practicing/reciting your airplane’s memory items, do the same with holding pattern entries and speeds, and it will be less chilling when you hear, “Standby to copy holding instructions.” I know it’s painful. I, too, hate holding patterns. But we need to get them right and know when to bail out to the alternate.
If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.
– Lewis Carroll
Loading a holding fix and pattern into the GFMS takes about 15 seconds if the hold is at a published fix, and because of proficiency, it takes about 30 if it’s a radial/DME fix holding pattern. If ATC gives you a short notice hold that is very near your position, you may wish you were flying something slower – so slow down as soon as you hear, “Standby to copy holding instructions.” Because, when flying your jet at 250 KTS ground, or faster, things will happen fast.
When we were issued holding to the nearby fix by RDU approach, I quickly recognized our time-crunch dilemma and instinctively fell back to the old-school method. I switched my NAV from GPS to VOR, set in the radial and checked the DME. I did a quick fix-to-fix calculation the way they taught us in the Air Force using DME and the VOR bearing pointer on the RMI (Radio Magnetic Indicator). The holding pattern was close: 20 degrees to the right and four miles away – too close to load the FMS. We were at 6,000 feet and 250 KTS, so I pulled the throttles to idle, slowed to about 200 KTS and turned a bit to the right. I pictured the hold on the HSI using T-D-P, and at 35 DME, entered the hold via a parallel entry and watched the DME increase.
My FO created a GPS waypoint at the radial/DME clearance fix, used that point as the holding fix and built the holding pattern in the FMS. At 45 DME I turned right onto the protected side of the radial and headed back to the radial at a 40-degree intercept. I tracked the radial inbound and at 35 DME turned left into the hold – just the way the picture appeared on the NAV display a couple seconds later. Whew, we got it right. No need to copy a phone number and call ATC. After just two turns in the hold, and after the autopilot failed during the approach, I hand flew the ILS through the rain to a 400/2 landing. Once parked, we looked at each other and chuckled as we had a moment of “holy crap” about the holding pattern and the ILS. It was a challenge – but fun!
Baseball is 90 percent mental, the other half is physical.
– Yogi Berra
Holding is a part of flying on instruments just as much as an RNAV STAR, SID or an instrument approach, but the frequency of a holding event is low. And lack of frequency causes a lack of proficiency, which can cause a simulator-like knot in the stomach and may precipitate the dreaded “prepare to copy a phone number” radio call if we mess it up. The same proficiency and phone call issue applies to messing up a non-ILS approach: RNAV/GPS, VOR, ADF and LOC BC. In the Part 121 world, we flew an ILS 90 percent of the time. In the Duke and Citation, we also fly an ILS or RNAV/GPS 90 percent of the time – the other half are visual (thanks, Yogi). Historically, I’ve been issued a holding perhaps three or four times per year (around every 200 hours) and thus am probably not so proficient – especially if referenced to a VOR/radial/DME, an NDB or grandma Leyba’s woodshed.
As I’ve moved from Air Force jets to the 727, the DC-10, MD-80, the 737, and now to the Citation, each has had increasing levels of (mostly) easier-to-use avionics, including easier-to-load holding patterns. And this has decreased my need for the HPC-2 and sticky notes on my forehead, but they’re both still in my kit bag. You may want to carry them too if your holding proficiency level is like mine.
In reality all that is required is to stay in holding airspace. How you do it is up to you.