Plain English Meaning

The clock-based rules a pilot uses when flying a holding pattern. Below 14,000 feet, the inbound leg should take one minute. Above 14,000 feet, it should take one and a half minutes. The outbound leg is flown to make that happen.

Full Definition

In holding pattern entries, the timing values used to fly the inbound and outbound legs correctly: one minute inbound at or below 14,000 feet MSL, and one and a half minutes inbound above 14,000 feet MSL. The outbound leg is timed and adjusted so that the inbound leg meets the required time.

Context Anchor

Seen when learning standard holding pattern entries and how to fly the outbound and inbound legs of a hold under instrument flight rules.

Derivation

Time comes from Old English words meaning a measured period. Factor comes from Latin facere, meaning “to make or do,” and came to mean something that helps produce a result. In this phrase, time factors are the time-related things that affect how the holding pattern is flown.