Interactive Quiz #74:
Hold, Circle, and Yield Right-of-Way

Flight opens the entire world to your imagination, so imagine yourself in the IFR-meets-VFR real world where you have to know what the other pilots are up to.

INSTRUCTIONS: Answer the questions as best you can, then click on the "Score my quiz answers" button to see your score and read the explanations. If you don't like your score the first time around, you can change some of your answers and resubmit. To get the most out of this quiz, we suggest you keep trying until you get a perfect score.

NOTE: When more than one answer is true, only the most complete correct answer will be scored as correct.

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1. Whether flying IFR or VFR it's important to know what a holding pattern is, if for no other reason than to sound cool in the pilot's lounge. ("Yup, approach whipped a hold on me and spun me 'til my hat fell off.") In the illustration below of a GPS approach you'll see two holding patterns with two separate purposes. How does the dotted-line holding pattern at KIRBY waypoint differ from the solid-line hold at LEBJE?
a. KIRBY is the missed approach holding pattern and LEBJE is an en route airway holding pattern.
b. KIRBY is the missed approach holding pattern and LEBJE is a holding pattern in lieu of a procedure turn (PT).
c. KIRBY is the en route IAF holding pattern that transitions to LEBJE, which is the initial approach fix (IAF) that doubles as a missed-approach holding pattern.
d. They're both missed approach holding patterns, but LEBJE is the primary hold and KIRBY is the back up.

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2. Air Traffic Control (ATC) can only issue airborne holds to IFR traffic.
a. True.
b. False.

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3. A standard IFR holding pattern (14,000 feet or below) is:
a. Left turns and one-minute inbound legs.
b. Left turns and one-minute outbound legs.
c. Right turns and one-minute inbound legs.
d. Right turns and one-minute outbound legs.

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4. Imagine that you've ventured above 14,000 feet and somehow offended an air traffic controller, who then slaps you into a standard holding pattern. How long should your legs be?
a. Long enough to reach the rudder pedals.
b. One and a half minutes.
c. One minute.
d. 45 seconds.

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5. Now imagine you're flying VFR in your brand new Cirrus SR-22 (hey, dream big) on a clear day, at 8,500 feet MSL in Class E airspace, east of the Hollow VOR headed westbound. You're receiving radar flight-following from an approach control facility. (With me so far?) You hear ATC issue holding instructions to an IFR Twin Beech (BE18) to hold east of the Hollow VOR on the 090-degree radial (you can draw this on the tablecloth; your roommate won't mind). The Twin Beech is level at 9,000 feet. On the controller's screen, your radar targets will probably merge over or near the VOR, so what vertical separation must ATC apply between you and the BE18? Chose the best answer.
a. None.
b. 500-feet vertical separation.
c. 1000 feet vertical separation.
d. Visual separation.

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6. You survive the BE18 encounter over the VOR and continue westbound into the sunset. Approach control hands you off to Center and you're still receiving flight following. Blinded by the rosy glow of sunset on your bug-smeared windshield, you momentarily -- and foolishly -- close your eyes. The sound of your engine winding up as you enter a spiral snaps you back to reality, and you remember that Class B airspace lies somewhere ahead. Since you're already receiving VFR flight following, are you automatically cleared into the Class B airspace?
a. Yes. Don't do a thing.
b. No. You must get a clearance.
c. Yes, but only if Center assigns you an altitude.
d. No. VFR aircraft aren't allowed in Class B after sunset.

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7. Whatever you did back at the Class B airspace must've worked because you arrive at your destination airport (inside Class E airspace) alive, and no one has asked you to mail your pilot certificate to FAA HQ upon landing -- a good flight so far. Then, as you turn base leg to runway 20 in the dark, you hear on CTAF an IFR pilot call her position as "... final approach fix inbound, localizer runway 2." Doing the math you sense merger problems, but the IFR pilot adds, "... I'll circle to runway 20." The weather is clear and visibility 10 miles. Who has the right of way? Choose the best answer.
a. IFR traffic always has right-of-way over VFR.
b. Unless the IFR traffic has an emergency or is a hot air balloon, you have the right-of-way.
c. The control tower will decide.
d. You do because the IFR traffic must go missed approach; circling is never authorized after sunset.

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8. Two-part question: The IFR traffic in the previous question says nothing more on the frequency. Since it was IFR and cleared for an approach by ATC, how long will ATC block that airspace from other IFR (or special VFR) users? And what is the official contraction or abbreviation for "No Radio"?
a. 45 minutes; NORAD.
b. 30 minutes; NORAD.
c. 45 minutes; NORDO.
d. 30 minutes; NORDO.
e. 60 minutes; NORML.

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9. Imagine that you're the CEO of the cockpit depicted in the illustration below and you see another aircraft headed directly at you, nose-to-sweaty-nose. Disregarding rights-of-way formalities, TCAS, or how much your life insurance policy is worth, each pilot should:
a. Immediately alter course to the left.
b. Immediately alter course to the right.
c. You should climb and the other guy should descend.
d. You should descend and the other guy should climb.
e. Consider another line of work.

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10. The CEO of the cockpit in the previous question probably would receive an RA from TCAS. What do those terms mean?
a. Royal Accommodation; Terminal Canadian Aeronautical Society.
b. Resolution Advisory; Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System.
c. Relative Altitude; Transient Collision Avoidance System.
d. Resolution Avoidance; Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System.

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