Hold as Published

James Albright (a former G450 driver)

Updated: 2013-11-23

Holding procedures tend to be straight forward sitting on the ground and talking about things to come. But in the airplane with the miles-to-go counter ticking down to zero? Not so much. It would be good to have the procedures down pat

When you get "hold as published," that should be easy, right? If you have enhanced navigation in the G450 it is indeed easier. But I still back it up with charts because I don't trust the FMS. The procedure isn't listed in the operating manual so what follows is just from trying it in the cockpit.

 
Figure: Holding pattern timing, from author's notes.

Figure: Holding pattern timing, from author's notes.

 Example Scenario

Figure: MCDU prior to hold pattern, from Eddie's cockpit.

You are flying from Bedford to Bangor, Maine and your route of flight takes you direct to a point called KHRIS, then ENE, and finally to KBGR when you get the following clearance:

Hold at KHRIS, as published, expect further clearance at 1020 ZULU.

 
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Figure: MCDU after pressing DIR key, from Eddie's cockpit.

You can select PATTERN from the NAV menu, or press DIR to get the PATTERN prompt.

 
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Figure: MCDU PATTERN menu, from Eddie's cockpit.

From here you select HOLD.

 
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Figure: MCDU HOLD prompt, from Eddie's cockpit.

If there is a published hold at that location, it should appear with its own line select key. If there are more than one published hold points, you should get a selection of them. I recommend you verify the FMS choice with charts.

 

Figure: Northeast Hi En Route Chart, around MHT.

The en route chart, in this case, verifies you have a 154° inbound course, right turns.

 
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Figure: MCDU holding pattern page with published hold, from Eddie's cockpit.

Selecting the published hold brings up the holding pattern page where you can make any adjustments.

 
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Figure: DU Map display with published hold, from Eddie's cockpit.

Pressing ACTIVATE inserts the hold into the FMS and you should be able to verify the pattern on your map display.

Default Holding Instead

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Figure: MCDU default holding page, from Eddie's cockpit.

If instead of hitting the appropriate line select key for a published hold you had pressed the DEFAULT key, you would end up with the standard holding pattern page with the inbound course to the fix given as the inbound course to the holding pattern.