Holding Pattern Trainer

Saw some of the negative reviews, but read the responses and other positive reviews. THIS IS A GREAT APP. It’s important to read the hold instructions! If it states hold N on BEARING XXX TO (the “to” is critical) that is your inbound leg. If it says hold SE of the XXX VOR radial XXX, that is considered the outbound leg. After a few hours of practice and a lot of mistakes, it came together. Will continue to practice with the hopes that I can visualize this without drawing it out. My only reason for giving 4 stars and not 5 is that I think $5.99 is a bit over priced for an app that I won’t likely use after my check ride.

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As a CFII instructor I downloaded this to help a student work out holds. The holds they give are just as wrong as could be. They say "hold SE on the 331 bearing" or something to that effect. Well 331 isn't SE, in fact it's opposite of that. So I see the word bearing and think, "ahhh so we'll just take the reciprocal"...and with that thought they were all wrong. When they draw out their examples, in this case "SE on the 331" they draw the pattern on the NW side. So their clearances are just totally wrong, as are the drawings. As a student this app caused me confusion so I didn't use it. As a CFII I know better now, and watched my student make several drawings correctly, only to be told they're wrong by the app that did them wrong in the first place. Useless app, DO NOT BUY IT! It will make things so much harder. And the reality is if you can think of two numbers between 360, you can give yourself endless clearances and draw them correctly and learn this for free. Wasted money here.

I'm a helicopter CFII on contract to an overseas flight academy who teaches only students for whom English is a second or even third language. Getting the concept of Holding Entries taught was ALWAYS a struggle! That is until a friend recommended this app. As the saying goes, "a picture (really is) worth a thousand words!" Now showing how "the Teardrop side is always the Turns side" and "20* up or 20* down from the HSI/RMI 90* tick marks" looks and works is a breeze! Most of the students, some as low as level 2 English speakers, now get the concept quickly and actually enjoy learning it! Well done!!!

I've tried several other apps but this is my favorite because it gives you hold instructions without any clues; thus, forcing you to think it through. It also provides multiple choice answer buttons, visualization on the heading indicator option, and an optional full view (plan view). I hope the developer updates the app to work with IOS 11; it would be a shame to lose this fantastic resource for pilots.

I’ve been using this app for the past month as I prepare for my instrument checkride, and it definitely helps with practicing the basic holding calculations. Wish there were more instructions with radials than bearings, since those seem to be more common in the real world, but it’s good to practice with both instructions. Also, it would be great if the visual aid showed you the heading to fly for the outbound teardrop correction or the inbound parallel correction.