Patent ID: 7003383

Claim:
A flight management system, the flight management system comprising: a) hold entry algorithm for a teardrop holding pattern entry, the hold entry algorithm including: i) a teardrop turn 1 segment; ii) a teardrop outbound segment following the teardrop turn 1 segment, the teardrop outbound segment having a length equal to the smaller of a hold racetrack outbound distance and a default leg distance, and wherein if the outbound segment length is less than a defined minimum distance the outbound segment length is extended to the greater of the hold racetrack outbound distance or the default leg length distance; iii) a teardrop turn 2 segment following the teardrop outbound segment; and iv) a teardrop inbound segment following the teardrop turn 2 segment; and b) a sequencing system, the sequencing system storing the hold entry algorithm and monitoring aircraft progress along an active segment in the hold entry algorithm the sequencing system evaluating the teardrop turn 1 segment, the teardrop outbound segment, the teardrop turn 2 segment and the teardrop inbound segment to determine which segment meets a control criterion, the sequencing system controlling to selected segments from the plurality of segments as the selected segments meet the control criterion.