Comparison

Holding Pattern Trainer vs Bus Mankato

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

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. ----------------------------------

About

Bus Mankato

Track Mankato buses in real-time, view scheduled stops, and plan your trips. This app provides live bus locations and transit route information for the Mankato area.

Highlights
  • Real-time bus tracking
  • View scheduled stops
  • Trip planner
  • Transit route information
  • Live location data
Features
Read full description

Mankato’s bus tracking app makes it easy to pinpoint Mankato buses and view scheduled stops using real-time information. The app includes a trip planner, schedule information and a link to transit routes. This app is a partnership between the city of Mankato and Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Screenshots

Holding Pattern Trainer4 screens
Bus Mankato4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Bus Mankato at Free against Holding Pattern Trainer's $4.99. Bus Mankato also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.1) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 5 months). Holding Pattern Trainer's advantage is ratings volume (114 vs 4) and chart position (#24 vs unranked). On ads, in-app purchases and device support 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Bus Mankato 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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Bus Mankato holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Holding Pattern Trainer has 114 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Holding Pattern Trainer ships an update every 5 months, Bus Mankato fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Holding Pattern Trainer versus Bus Mankato: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHolding Pattern TrainerBus Mankato
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating4.1 (114 ratings)5.0 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews76.9% of reviews—
Number of ratings114 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
Best chart rank#24 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS11.08.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size10 MB38 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFLEMINGER MEDIA LLCMinnesota State University, Mankato

Customer experience

Holding Pattern Trainer

All ratings114 ratings
Positive78.9%
Neutral5.3%
Negative15.8%
Written reviews91 reviews
Positive76.9%
Neutral4.4%
Negative18.7%

Bus Mankato

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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
Show 10 more
  • 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
Show 6 more
  • 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

Bus Mankato

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Holding Pattern Trainer

No in-app purchases

None

Bus Mankato

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Holding Pattern Trainer free?
Holding Pattern Trainer costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Bus Mankato free?
Bus Mankato is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Holding Pattern Trainer or Bus Mankato?
Bus Mankato is rated higher. Holding Pattern Trainer averages 4.1 out of 5 from 114 ratings, while Bus Mankato averages 5.0 from 4 ratings.
Do Holding Pattern Trainer or Bus Mankato have ads?
Neither Holding Pattern Trainer nor Bus Mankato shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Holding Pattern Trainer or Bus Mankato?
Holding Pattern Trainer ships an update every 5 months, and Bus Mankato fortnightly. Most recently, Holding Pattern Trainer was updated on October 14, 2026 and Bus Mankato on October 6, 2026.

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