Help please! The Hold

[Onward79 54]

Working towards succeeding with that Instrument Checkride, is there a swift and easy way of deciding the type of entry into the Hold?

In addition, how does one ensure that one's turns in the Hold are at a standard rate......or is that not important in that Checkride?

[allardjd 1,853]

Standard Rate Turns. At any given airspeed, the steeper you bank the wings, the quicker the airplane will turn. A standard rate turn is a turn in which the angle of bank is such that a 360° circle would take exactly two minutes. For that reason, it's also referred to as a two-minute turn.

How steeply do you bank the wings to make a standard rate turn? That depends on your airspeed, but there's an instrument on your panel that saves you from having to guess.

The Turn Coordinator. The round-faced instrument in the lower left corner of the instrument cluster is the turn coordinator. It shows the rear view of a miniature airplane. When you bank the simulator's wings during flight, the wings on the miniature airplane also bank, showing the rate at which you're turning.

To turn at the standard rate, you'll bank the airplane's wings so that the wings on the turn coordinator are lined up with the tick mark on the edge of the instrument—the tick mark labeled L for a left turn, or the one labeled R for a right turn. If you keep the airplane banked so that the wings on the turn coordinator stay aligned with the tick mark, you'll be turning at this standard rate.

At lower speeds you'll use shallower turns, but they'll still be standard rate turns if the indicator is aligned with the tick mark.

Making a Standard-Rate Turn. You can think of a standard rate turn as consisting of five separate steps. Here are the steps to make a standard rate turn to the left:

• Bank the wings to the left—gradually—while keeping an eye on the turn coordinator.

  The turn coordinator responds a bit slowly, so take your time as you establish a bank at which the indicator's wings are lined up with the tick mark.

• Nudge back on the stick (up elevator), to maintain altitude.

  With the wings banked this steeply, they lose some of their lift. As a result, when you start into the turn, the nose will begin to fall off, and the vertical speed indicator will reveal that you're beginning to descend. Therefore, to prevent a loss of altitude, you'll need to nudge the stick back slightly.

• Monitor the horizon and the vertical speed indicator, and use up-and-down nudges on the stick to prevent either a climb or a descent.

  The elevator has a tendency toward over-control, so you'll have to use up-and-down nudges on the stick (as you do while setting up for an approach) to prevent either a climb or a descent. Also, glance at the altimeter from time to time, as a check: You want to maintain your altitude throughout the turn.

• Maintain the correct bank by nudging the stick to the left periodically, as required.

  As the airplane turns, it will tend to level off some by itself, so you also have to nudge the stick left periodically in order to maintain the correct angle of bank.

• Begin to roll out of the turn 10- to 15-degrees beforereaching your final heading.

  Know in advance the heading you wish to turn to, and start the roll-out early enough to end up right on that heading.

Thus, as you turn, in addition to watching the position of the horizon, you'll glance back and forth between the turn coordinator and the vertical speed indicator, with an occasional glance at the altimeter as well.

 

 

http://www.flightsimbooks.com/learning/flight4.php

 

John

[Onward79 54]

No suggestions about the swift and easy technique for deciding on which entry to choose to enter the Hold pattern, John?

Very helpful advice about that Stabdard rate of turn.

[allardjd 1,853]

Holds are something I haven't done much of and am not anything close to an expert.  Every "simple" method I've come across reads like something halfway between differential calculus and the Monty Python RAF Banter sketch.

 

John

[Quickmarch 488]

Here's a website that will explain the procedure:

 

http://www.langleyflyingschool.com/Pages/Holds%20and%20Hold%20Entriesl.html#Standard%20Holding%20Pattern

 

Have fun!

[Onward79 54]

Now that IS a site to warm the heart of a navigator, marine or aviator.

Many thanks.

[Captain Coffee 2,030]

Thanks for posting those descriptions of how to use the turn and slip John and John. March, thanks a bunch for that Langley school link...super resource!!!

 

Turn and Slip...One of those things I have been meaning to read up on, but never get round to.

 

I kinda suspected that was how to use it, but because I never really worried about how long it took to get around a turn, only how fast I could do it, I haven't bothered to read up on how to do it at a Properly Slow Standard Rate.

I have, however, been using the slip indicator a lot more than I normally do lately...but just to coordinate turns, and to gauge how much I am slipping on approaches.

Since I have been making videos...i figured it would look unprofessional to look at my dashboard and see my Slip Ball sitting wonky on turns.

 

[allardjd 1,853]

...never really worried about how long it took to get around a turn, only how fast I could do it...

 

 

It can be important when shooting instrument approaches.  The turn rate and airspeed (and wind) determine the radius of the arc you're flying on and thus the footprint over the ground.  The IAPs assume that you'll make a standard rate turn and will be within the speed range of the category aircraft (A, B, C or D, in the table at the bottom of the procedure) you're flying.  All that is designed to assure that you will remain within the "protected airspace" for the procedure.  If you wander outside of it due to a too high airspeed or a too low turn rate, you could end up busting some other piece of protected airspace, getting near obstacles or getting tangled up with traffic that should not be a factor for the approach.  

 

Too high turn rates mean a steeper bank and though there are no hard and fast rules, generally speaking, high-bank turns in IMC are considered to be less conservative.  It's a high-workload time for the pilot, at low altitude and a lower-than-cruise airspeed, maybe configuration changes going on (trim, gear, flaps) with a lot requiring his attention, so adding a high-bank angle turn in IMC on top of that is one more task that requires nearly constant attention.  

 

A WAY too slow turn rate in a PT (Procedure Turn) can mess up the Localizer intercept at the end of it, but it would have to be a pretty slow turn for that to happen.  You'll either overshoot or have to make a turn greater than the expected 45 degrees to capture the Localizer.

 

John