Flying A Holding Pattern
Many aircraft have a specific holding speed published by the manufacturer; this is a lower speed at which the aircraft uses less fuel per hour than normal cruise speeds. A typical holding speed for transport category aircraft is 210 to 265 knots (491 km/h). Holding speeds are a function of aircraft weight at the point of holding. If possible, a holding pattern is flown with flaps and landing gear up to save fuel.
Entry procedures and accurate flying of the holding procedure are essential parts of IFR pilot training, and will always be tested on examination flights.
Modern autopilots, coupled with flight management systems, can enter and fly holding patterns automatically.
Read more about this topic: Holding (aviation)
Famous quotes containing the words flying, holding and/or pattern:
“Now I am alone with the dead,
flying off bridges,
hurling myself like a beer can into the wastebasket.
I am flying like a single red rose,
leaving a jet stream
of solitude....”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“The best part of myself, that’s what you are. Do you think I’m going to leave it to the vulgar pawing of a second-rate detective who thinks you’re a “dame”? Do you think I could bear the thought of him holding you in his arms, kissing you, loving you?”
—Jay Dratler, U.S. screenwriter, Samuel Hoffenstein (1889–1947)
“It is a very true and expressive phrase, “He looked daggers at me,” for the first pattern and prototype of all daggers must have been a glance of the eye.... It is wonderful how we get about the streets without being wounded by these delicate and glancing weapons, a man can so nimbly whip out his rapier, or without being noticed carry it unsheathed. Yet it is rare that one gets seriously looked at.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)