How to Fly a Holding Pattern
What a holding pattern is, the three standard entries, and how to fly the racetrack accurately.
A holding pattern keeps an aircraft within a small, protected piece of airspace while it waits — for a clearance, for traffic, or for weather to improve. It is a racetrack flown around a fix (a VOR, an intersection, a GPS waypoint or a DME distance).
The standard hold
A *standard* hold uses right-hand turns. The pattern has two straight legs joined by two 180° turns. Below 14,000 ft MSL the inbound leg is timed at one minute; above that it is one and a half minutes. The inbound course is the heading you track toward the fix; everything else is built around it.
Wind makes the racetrack lopsided. You correct by adjusting the outbound timing (fly the outbound leg longer or shorter so the inbound leg comes out close to one minute) and by tripling the inbound drift correction on the outbound leg.
The three entries
How you join the hold depends on the angle between your heading and the holding course as you cross the fix:
- Direct entry — turn right and fly the pattern as published.
- Parallel entry — fly outbound parallel to the inbound course on the non-holding side, then turn back toward the fix and join.
- Teardrop entry — fly outbound at about 30° to the inbound course on the holding side, then turn to intercept the inbound course.
A useful memory aid is to picture the holding-side and non-holding-side of the inbound course as two halves split by a line 70° off the course; which half your heading falls into tells you the entry.
Flying it well
Standard-rate turns (3°/second) keep you inside protected airspace. Start your time abeam the fix outbound, or wing-level if you can’t identify abeam. Re-check the wind every lap. Brief the hold before you reach the fix — entry, inbound course, leg length and EFC (expect-further-clearance) time — so the fix doesn’t arrive faster than your plan.
See also the glossary entries for holding pattern and standard rate turn.
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*Reference and training only — not for navigation. Always consult the current AIM, your aircraft’s POH/AFM and a certificated flight instructor.*