Instrument Rating Lessons | Epic Flight Academy - Instrument Rating Course: 2.3.2 - Holding Pattern Instructions

Welcome back to Epic Flight Academy’s Instrument Rating Course! In this lesson, Mike Thompson explains how to interpret and execute holding pattern instructions issued by Air Traffic Control (ATC). Understanding how to read, visualize, and enter a hold correctly is essential for safe and efficient IFR operations. You’ll learn what information is included in a holding clearance, how to determine which entry procedure (direct, teardrop, or parallel) to use, and what to do when your holding pattern isn’t published on a chart. Mike also introduces EFC times (Expect Further Clearance) and walks through multiple realistic ATC examples to help you build confidence handling holds under pressure. By the end of this video, you’ll know exactly how to interpret ATC holding instructions, identify inbound headings, and prepare for every possible holding scenario during instrument flight. #InstrumentRating #IFRTraining #InstrumentPilot #EpicFlightAcademy #FlightTraining #Aviation #LearnToFly 📘 Video Chapters 0:00 – Introduction 1:00 – What Are Holding Instructions? 1:25 – What If My Hold Isn’t Published? 2:59 – What Is an EFC Time? 3:36 – Practice With Holding Pattern Instructions 6:27 – Inbound Heading 8:01 – Final Example 9:01 – Summary ✈️ Start Your Instrument Rating Training: https://epicflightacademy.com/prequalification-enrollment 📚 Learn more about Epic Flight Academy’s Instrument Rating Course: https://epicflightacademy.com/instrument-rating/ This course is taught by Epic Flight Academy's own Mike Thompson. Mike Thompson is the author of "Telling Is Not Teaching", which promotes the idea that the “new school” of teaching that embraces electronic technology cannot sacrifice the “old school” of human relationships because the human brain stills learns in largely the same way that it has for millennia. "Telling Is Not Teaching" : https://www.amazon.com/Telling-Not-Teaching-Instructors-Handbook-ebook/dp/B0752BPPW7 Enjoying our content? Like this video and SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel so we can continue to produce more Epic content! Follow us on social media to stay up to date on EVERYTHING happening at Epic Flight Academy! Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/epicflightacademy Twitter: https://twitter.com/epicfltacademy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/epicflightacademy LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/epic-flight-academy Website: https://epicflightacademy.com/