Holding Pattern Trainer vs Sparkys E6B
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Holding Pattern Trainer
Master IFR holding pattern entries on your mobile device to save time and money on instrument flight training. Practice at your convenience to make choosing the correct entry a breeze.
- Entry Trainer for holding pattern drills
- Holding calculator for scenario visualization
- Holding tutorial for quick learning
- Practice at your own pace
- Save on flight and ground lessons
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Save time and money on your instrument flight training by mastering IFR holding pattern entries at the comfort of your own mobile device. Make IFR flight training easier! Is the following scenario familiar? You receive a holding clearance from ATC, and only have a couple of minutes, sometimes only a few seconds, to choose the correct entry. By the time you've figured out what's going on, you've already passed the holding fix and don't know what to do next. If this sounds familiar, then you need not to worry. Confusion during holding entries happens to practically almost every new instrument student. Even instrument-rated pilots occasionally have the same problem — when they don't get enough practice. Holding Trainer solves this problem and as a result, cuts the time you have to spend on expensive flight and ground lessons. With Holding Trainer, you can practice on your own time and convenience, so that choosing the best holding entry in the air becomes a breeze. Features: -Entry Trainer - Drills you on choosing the best holding entry. Practice until choosing holding entries becomes second nature and impress your flight instructor with your skills. -Holding calculator. Solve and visualize any holding scenario by entering your current bearing to the fix and a outbound or inbound holding radial. -Holding tutorial - learn how to choose the best holding entry quickly and easily. Holding Trainer for iOS is a complete rewrite based on my popular Flash-based desktop Holding Trainer app available on pilotscafe.com. ***Don't get "stuck" next time you receive a holding pattern clearance!*** ---------------------------------- For only a fraction of the cost of one ground lesson with your flight instructor, you can practice this important instrument skill at your own pace and save hundreds of Dollars on figuring out holding entries in the air. This is a great tool for anyone training towards their instrument checkride, CFII, proficiency check, or simply trying to improve their holding patterns. ----------------------------------
Sparkys E6B
This app emulates a mechanical E6B flight computer, offering digital readouts for precise calculations. It combines the speed and intuitiveness of analog input with the accuracy of digital output for various aviation computations.
- Digital readouts for calculations
- Analog input with cursors and steppers
- Multiplication and division
- Rate problems (fuel, time, speed)
- Wind correction angle calculations
- Conversions (miles, fuel, weight)
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Sparky's E6B emulates a mechanical E6B Flight Computer, with significant additional capabilities. The app provides digital readouts of values that would otherwise have to be eyeballed in a standard E6B. The use of cursors and steppers enables the precision of a digital computer with the speed and intuitiveness of an analog computer. The E6B is an analog computer invented in the 1930's by Lt. Philip Dalton, USN for purposes of training and flight calculations. The app can be used to perform calculations, or to practice and learn how to use a mechanical E6B. Advantages of analog slide-rule E6Bs include the speed of entering data, and continous operation that can enable a more intuitive feel for how outputs change as inputs are changed. If inputs are changed, it is simply a matter of a swipe or using a stepper to fine tune inputs, and outputs are updated simultaneously. Advantages of digital E6B's includes precision, but as E6Bs are in reality often used to estimate data, this precision often cannot be taken advantage of. Furthermore, entering data is slowed down by soft keypads popping up and down. It may be hard to understand how outputs change in response to inputs if individual numbers need to be entered on a keypad. Sparky's E6B provides the best of both worlds. The speed and intuitive entry of an analog E6B, along with the digital readout of a digital E6B. The "slide rule" or "front" side includes a circular log-log scale that can be used for multiplication, division, fuel consumption and time/speed/distance calculations. There are also various conversions available, such as nautical-miles/statute-miles/kilometers, fuel and oil volume and weight. The windows on the front are used for airspeed, various forms of "altitude' and mach number calculations. Digital output is provided for - Multiplication and division - Ascent and descent vertical and horizontal speed and angles - Rate problems such as gallons per hour, time to destination etc. - Density Altitude and True Airspeed calculations. - True Altitude Calculations - Mach speeds vs. temperature - Conversions of Nautical and Statue Miles to and from Kilometers - Volume of oil and fuel vs. weight - Conversion of Pounds to Kilograms - Conversion of Feet to Meters The "wind" side is a vector computer used to determine flight headings, wind correction angle etc. It also provides digital readouts to provide an intuitive feel for wind correction, as well as to let the inputs be fine-tuned or updated as conditions change. We have no ads and collect no personal information. We hope you enjoy Sparky's E6B and find it useful.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Sparkys E6B at Free against Holding Pattern Trainer's $4.99. Sparkys E6B also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.1). Holding Pattern Trainer's advantage is chart position (#14 vs unranked) and ratings volume (114 vs 13). On review sentiment, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Sparkys E6B is free to download; Holding Pattern Trainer costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Sparkys E6B holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Holding Pattern Trainer has 114 ratings behind it against 13, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 77% of Holding Pattern Trainer's written reviews are positive against 75% of Sparkys E6B's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Holding Pattern Trainer ships an update every 5 months, Sparkys E6B every 10 months. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and September 15, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Holding Pattern Trainer | Sparkys E6B |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.1 (114 ratings) | 4.7 (13 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 76.9% of reviews — better | 75.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 114 — better | 13 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months — better | Every 10 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #14 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 | 11.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 10 MB | 15 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | FLEMINGER MEDIA LLC | Intineo LLC |
Customer experience
Holding Pattern Trainer
Sparkys E6B
Bugs and requests
Holding Pattern Trainer
Reported bugs
15 issues- Entries are wrong for turns
- Plan view is incorrect
- App drawing entries in wrong directions
- Slicing the fix completely wrong
- Bearing questions are wrong
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- App does not apply reciprocal track to 'pod'
- Giving wrong answers
- Visualizer is mirrored to map plan view (user confusion)
- Practice screen plan view incorrect
- App craps out and goes to a black screen
- Guide lines separating direct, parallel, and teardrop incorrectly in practice mode visualization
- Not updated for iOS 11
- App loads upside down
- Button sensitivity could be better
- Cannot change values on hold computer
Requested features
11 requests- Include more methods in tutorial
- Add teardrop heading to fly
- Allow practice with bearings on/off
- Show outbound teardrop/inbound parallel correction headings
- Work in portrait mode
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- Add voice ATC instructions
- More variety in questions
- Larger text for older users
- More tips for newbies
- Ability to fly the hold like a nav trainer
- Use real-life ATC phrases in exercises
Sparkys E6B
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Holding Pattern Trainer
No in-app purchases
Sparkys E6B
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Holding Pattern Trainer free?
Is Sparkys E6B free?
Which has better reviews, Holding Pattern Trainer or Sparkys E6B?
Do Holding Pattern Trainer or Sparkys E6B have ads?
Which is updated more often, Holding Pattern Trainer or Sparkys E6B?
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