Patrick Flannigan has posted a short entry on AirChatter.com entitled Holding Pattern Entries Made Easy! As Patrick explains, there are three ways to enter a holding pattern (parallel, direct or tear drop) and entry really depends upon a plane’s intercept angle with the holding pattern. However, rather than do any kind of mental math to compute an entry, Patrick says that he does it all visually using three simple rules which he outlines. In his words, choosing one of these rules to follow sure beats doing a bunch of mental math while also trying to fly the airplane.
The post is worth a quick read and Patrick also invites comments on his method of entry as well.