Holding Pattern Trainer vs Virtual VOR
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. ----------------------------------
Virtual VOR
This navigation app allows users to place a VOR (VHF Omnidirectional Range) beacon anywhere on a map. It provides VOR-DME and ADF gauges for flight simulation or training purposes.
- Place VOR beacons anywhere
- VOR-DME gauge display
- ADF gauge display
- Customizable VOR placement
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Virtual VOR-DME, cast your VOR wherever you want, and get a VOR-DME and ADF gauges.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Virtual VOR at Free against Holding Pattern Trainer's $4.99. Virtual VOR also leads on review sentiment (86% vs 77%). Holding Pattern Trainer's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and chart position (#15 vs unranked). On rating, ratings volume, update cadence 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
Virtual VOR 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.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.1 for Holding Pattern Trainer against 4.0 for Virtual VOR. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 114 and 46 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 77% of Holding Pattern Trainer's written reviews are positive against 86% of Virtual VOR's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and August 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Holding Pattern Trainer | Virtual VOR |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.1 (114 ratings) — better | 4.0 (46 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 76.9% of reviews | 85.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 114 — better | 46 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 5 months |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Ad-supported — better |
| Best chart rank | #15 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 16.2 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 10 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | FLEMINGER MEDIA LLC | Gev Simon |
Customer experience
Holding Pattern Trainer
Virtual VOR
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
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- 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
Virtual VOR
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Holding Pattern Trainer
No in-app purchases
Virtual VOR
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Holding Pattern Trainer free?
Is Virtual VOR free?
Which has better reviews, Holding Pattern Trainer or Virtual VOR?
Do Holding Pattern Trainer or Virtual VOR have ads?
Which is updated more often, Holding Pattern Trainer or Virtual VOR?
Other comparisons
