Holding Pattern Trainer vs FltPlan Go
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. ----------------------------------
FltPlan Go
This app serves as a mobile companion for flight planning and navigation. It syncs flight plans, weather data, and airport information for offline and in-flight use. Features include interactive maps, route planning, and aviation-specific tools.
- Flight plan creation and filing
- Offline NavLogs and airport data
- Interactive moving maps with charts
- Real-time weather and NOTAMs
- Weight & Balance calculations
- eLogbook integration
- Customizable checklists
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FltPlan Go is the essential companion to FltPlan.com. Because FltPlan Go is integrated with FltPlan.com, flight plans and NavLogs are automatically synced to your device along with Weight & Balance profiles, eLogbook profiles, and Checklists for offline and in-flight use. • Create and file your flight plan on FltPlan.com, and it will sync to FltPlan Go to allow you to responsively edit the flight plan on the map • NavLogs are automatically synced and downloaded for offline use • Create and file your flight plan on FltPlan Go to sync to FltPlan.com FltPlan Go delivers powerful routing, weather, mapping features, and comprehensive aviation information including: AIRPORTS: • Airport & FBO Information including current fuel prices • Geo-Referenced approach plates & airport diagrams (U.S & Canada) • Weather, including METARs, TAFs, PIREPs, & MOS • NOTAMs & Remarks MAPS: • Sync FltPlan.com flight plans and interactively edit on the map • File a flight plan from within FltPlan Go • Moving maps with sectionals, enroute charts, & more • Overlay approach plates & procedures on the map • Layers including SUAs, TFRs, State Outline, Airports, Fuel Prices, CAP Grid, Stadiums, and Customs • Display METARs, Winds, SIGMETs, and animated Weather on the map • Display MOS weather forecasts (up to 4 days out) on the map • Breadcrumbs with enhanced playback & option to open in Google Earth • Split Screen to view information simultaneously, including airports, Flight Instruments (AHRS), procedures, NavLogs, Howgozit, Checklists, & More • Display Search & Rescue patterns • Course Deviation Indicator (CDI) • View Howgozit to track real time progress of your flight • Create or import Custom Waypoints in KML or CSV format • Overlay in-flight ADS-B traffic & weather or XM Weather* NAVLOGS: • NavLogs automatically sync and download for offline use • Email or print NavLogs from within FltPlan Go ADDITIONAL FEATURES: • Weight & Balance - create computations with the option to email • eLogbook - create logbook entries to sync to our eLogbook program • Checklists - synced from FltPlan.com for your specific aircraft • Binders - create flight specific binders with documents or procedures, airports, NavLogs, weather briefs, & more • Weather - search airport or route weather • Tracking - view live tracking • PDCs • Cloud Tops • Aviation Calculators • Access to FltPlan.com EXTERNAL: AVIONICS • Garmin • Dynon SkyView • Advanced Flight Systems • Avidyne IFD Series • DAC International GDC64 ADS-B • Garmin • Stratus 3 • Dual XGPS 170/190 • Dynon D2 • FreeFlight • Pathfinder • iLevil SW • L-3 Lynx • SkyGuard • Stratux • FlightBox • pingBuddy • Clarity • Custom Unit GPS • Garmin GDL 51 & GLO • Dual XGPS 150 • Bad Elf APP-TO-APP • Garmin Pilot • Satcom Direct • Jeppesen Mobile FD 2.7 SIMULATORS • X-Plane Simulator • FSX & Prepar3D *Subscription/Unit Required *Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life. FltPlan has grown into the largest flight planning company in North America. FltPlan covers the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, Panama, and parts of Venezuela and Columbia. FltPlan’s 165,000-plus active, registered users file more than 55% of all N#-registered flight plans. FltPlan Go is a part of FltPlan's comprehensive system that includes free, web-based flight planning and filing and a full range of premium services. FltPlan has more than 18 years of general aviation experience, giving pilots access to the best support team in the business. 24/7 FltPlan Go support is available at Tech@FltPlan.com
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: FltPlan Go at Free against Holding Pattern Trainer's $4.99. FltPlan Go also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 5 months). Holding Pattern Trainer's advantage is review sentiment (77% vs 56%) and chart position (#13 vs unranked). On rating, ratings volume, 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
FltPlan Go 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 FltPlan Go. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 114 and 173 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 77% of Holding Pattern Trainer's written reviews are positive against 56% of FltPlan Go's.
Holding Pattern Trainer ships an update every 5 months, FltPlan Go every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and July 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Holding Pattern Trainer | FltPlan Go |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.1 (114 ratings) — better | 4.0 (173 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 76.9% of reviews — better | 56.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 114 | 173 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #13 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 10 MB | 180 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | FLEMINGER MEDIA LLC | FltPlan.com (Flight Plan LLC) |
Customer experience
Holding Pattern Trainer
FltPlan Go
User reviews
Holding Pattern Trainer
From 114 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Great for practicing holds
- 💡 Excellent visualization tool
- 🚀 Helps learn fast
- ✅ Accurate for many users
- 🧠 Reinforces knowledge
Room to improve
- ❌ Incorrect entries/drawings
- ⚠️ Wrong answers/info
- 😞 Wastes valuable time
- 💸 Overpriced for some
- 🤔 Confusing for some users
FltPlan Go
From 173 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 💰 Completely free with no subscription required
- 🗺️ Comprehensive charts and geo-referenced approach plates
- 📍 Accurate GPS and moving map functionality
- 🔌 ADS-B integration with Stratux and other receivers
- ✈️ Excellent flight planning capabilities
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
- 🔋 Excessive battery consumption
- 🔧 Clunky and outdated user interface
- 📉 Features being removed over time
- ❌ Missing critical safety information (MOA, SUA data)
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 moreShow fewer
- 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
FltPlan Go
Reported bugs
20 issues- App crashes immediately after opening (recent update issue)
- Crashes during flight with ADS-B enabled
- Crashes when long-pressing on airports
- Crashes when accessing binder/document sections
- Map panning limitations in certain regions
Show 15 moreShow fewer
- Highlighted annotations shift when leaving and returning
- Draw feature not saving properly
- Breadcrumb upload failures
- Howgozit leg/fuel info displays blank
- Procedures fail to download or show as updated
- Connection errors with ADS-B receivers
- App not opening after updates
- Flight tracking stops after 10 minutes
- X-Plane simulator connection broken
- Calculator doesn't work with decimals
- State outlines not displaying
- Airport runway icons not working after updates
- Screen framing and offset issues
- Maps not displaying in correct resolution
- Login authentication failures
Requested features
15 requests- Multiple fuel stops in flight planning
- Better annotation and drawing tools with undo functionality
- Jeppesen chart support
- Improved markup capabilities for in-flight use
- Synthetic vision and terrain alerting systems
Show 10 moreShow fewer
- Plotter integration for precise direction
- Unit conversion options (nautical to other units)
- Background downloads for charts and procedures
- Ability to disable sample routes
- Flight plan naming and organization improvements
- Zulu time option for flight planning
- Runway selection on extended centerlines
- Better logbook functionality
- MOA and SUA overlay in app (currently web-only)
- Copy route button for easy transfer to other apps
In-app purchases
Holding Pattern Trainer
No in-app purchases
FltPlan Go
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Holding Pattern Trainer free?
Is FltPlan Go free?
Which has better reviews, Holding Pattern Trainer or FltPlan Go?
Do Holding Pattern Trainer or FltPlan Go have ads?
Which is updated more often, Holding Pattern Trainer or FltPlan Go?
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