Before you can hold, you have to get to the holding fix. In this first video, we start southwest of the VOR tracking northbound. The mission is to intercept the 123° radial outbound to the SOCKS intersection. Learn how to navigate the “cone of confusion” over the station and establish your outbound track without a moving map.

Once established outbound on the 123° radial toward SOCKS, we are instructed to hold Southeast, with a 303° inbound course and a 123° outbound leg. In this video, we reference Chapter 10 of the FAA’s official Instrument Flying Handbook to set up a classic Teardrop Entry.

Now that we have successfully executed our teardrop entry and crossed back over SOCKS, it’s time to establish the standard pattern. This lesson breaks down the baseline mechanics of a standard right-hand holding pattern under zero-wind conditions.

In the real world, zero-wind days are rare. In this final lesson, we crank up the simulator winds to 123° at 20 knots, creating a severe headwind outbound and a massive tailwind inbound. If you only fly a 1-minute outbound leg here, your inbound leg will shrink to 32 seconds. I suggest adding the difference to your next outbound leg, plus a few extra seconds to account for any errors. This is an iterative process and it might take a couple of turns in holding to really dial in your inbound leg.