Set Up a User Hold On the GTN (Xi) Touchscreen Avionics

Demonstration of a user hold:

Situation:

You are flying a Cessna 182 tail number N12GRM with a GTN™ 750 touchscreen avionics installed.  Flying westbound at 4,000ft MSL over Higginsville Airport (KHIG), your next waypoint in the flight plan is the Napoleon VORTAC (ANX).  ATC contacts you on the radio saying, "N12GRM, hold east of the Napoleon VORTAC on the 090 radial, right-hand turns, 4 mile legs.  Expect Further Clearance at 1620Z".  

Procedure:

1.  Select the waypoint for the hold in the flight plan.  In this example, it is already loaded.  Then select the Hold At Waypoint button under the "Waypoint Options" menu.
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2. Configure the Hold specifications to meet your needs.  Each of these directives has a specific field on the Hold At Waypoint configuration page:   In our example, we were told to:

   
   

   1. Hold East on the 090 Radial: This is accomplished by selecting the Course and Direction buttons.  In this case, we were directed to hold on the 090 radial.  The radial is ground based and communicated as a radial FROM the station.  The GTN is GPS based and calculating a COURSE TO a waypoint.  This is an important distinction.  If you leave the direction set to inbound, then the value you input in course will need to be the reciprocal of the radial assigned by ATC.  i.e.  090 radial FROM is a 270 inbound COURSE TO.   If you desire to have the numbers match, then you would need to select "Outbound".  i.e. 090 radial FROM is a 090 inbound COURSE TO.

      
      

   2. Right Hand Turns: Select the Turn button to change it from left to right. 

      
      

   3. 4 Mile Legs: Touch on the Leg Type button to change between distance and time.  The quantity field underneath with change according to this setting.  Set it to 'Distance' and '4.0 nm'.

      
      

   4. Expect Further Clearance at 1620Z:  Touch on the Expect Further Clearance button, enter the value, and save it.

      
      

   5. Verify all information on the hold page for accuracy before loading, and use a common sense check from the ATC instructions.  Verify the course lines (on) and the narrative (under) the map preview window.

      
      

   6. Tap on the Load Hold button.
      

      
      

3. Just like with any avionics device, always check your work to ensure the unit is doing what you want it to.   On the Flight Plan Page, you will see the hold annotated as a cliff hanging indent waypoint (with hold information) underneath the waypoint identified for the hold. 

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4. You will also see the hold annotated in white (indicating it is not the active navigation directive) on the Map page.
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• • Remember, there is no replacement for researching in your Pilot's Guide and Aircraft Flight Supplement, as well as some dual instruction with a good Flight Instructor.  You can find the digital document downloads for your GTN here.  
  • Always ensure you feel comfortable with these tasks prior to executing on an IFR flight plan, especially in Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC). 
  • The iPad GTN Trainer App can be downloaded for free here.
  • You can view the Free GTN PC Trainer options at the bottom of this page here.