Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

1 Answers

Why do holding patterns default to right hand turns?

Asked by: 3620 views Instrument Rating

Just curious but is there any specific reason why holding patterns default to right-hand turns?  I know traffic patterns default to left turns for better visibility from the left seat but why would holding patterns default to the right?

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

1 Answers



  1. mason sherwood on Jan 23, 2016

    I would say that with almost everything in IFR scenarios, the difference between the left/right default turn is almost negligible. What is important is that both the pilot and ATC are expecting the same thing to happen. Much like lost comms (AVEF/MEA), its more about everyone planning for the same thing.

    -1 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 1 Votes


The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.