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2 Answers

Holding pattern entry: 2 instead of 3

Asked by: 1797 views ,
Airspace, Instrument Rating

Can I exchange 'parallel' entry maneuver for 'offset' (teardrop) or vice versa, since the ATC is care only about that I stay on a safe side of a holding pattern?

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2 Answers



  1. KDS on Apr 15, 2019

    Yes. You can enter holding any way you wish as long as you don’t go outside of protected airspace.

    I remember many years ago an old instructor telling me that he had seen a lot of pilots get totally messed up trying to figure out how to enter holding. His advice was that if confusion rules the day, just hit the fix, turn right to the outbound heading, fly a minute, turn right and go direct to the fix, and turn right to make a direct entry. It may not be pretty and it won’t impress a check airman, but it’s safe, it’s legal, and it’s a heck of a lot better than getting lost in space trying to figure out how to enter holding.

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  2. Mark Kolber on Apr 15, 2019

    To add a bit to KDS’s comment, there are a few flight schools here and there which only teach two entries. Perhaps obviously, all teach direct entries, but it varies between the other two with some teaching parallel and some teaching teardrop as the second entry.

    As an aside (and a bit of a rant), I think the biggest problem with holds is the way they are typically taught. They are relatively simple maneuvers which we teach in a way which makes them seem overly complicated. I teach and use all three entries but I avoid thinking of the AIM arcs as some kind of gospel.

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