Ok, full disclosu I'm still an IR student; probably a week or two
from my checkride.

However, I've been flying a lot of NDB approaches with my instructor
and a few things come to mind:

1. when the deflection of the needle is equal to your correction,
you're on course. I believe that this is the only rule you
need to remember!

So, you're flying to the ndb:
- you're heading is equal to your course, and the needle
points up: you're on course
- you're heading is 20 degrees to the right of the course
you want to be on and the needle is 20 degrees to the
left: you're on course.

If you're flying away from the ndb, the rule is the same,
except that the direction of your correction and the deflection
of the needle are in the same direction. This was a little
confusing to me since when you notice you're off course and
turn to correct, the deflection will get worse at first, not
better.

So, you're flying away from the ndb:
- the tail of the needle points 20 degrees to the
right. You turn to correct, say, 30 degrees to
the left. Now the needle say 50 degrees off. Wait.
When it goes back to 30 (the amount of your correction)
you're back on the course. (you'll probably want to
reduce your correction now, as it will continue to
slide you over to the other side if you keep it in)

2. if you get confused, turn your heading to the desired course
and see where the needle is

3. think of an ndb approach as a dead reckoning approach, and
just think of the adf as a way of getting some insight into
the wind direction.

Heck, if the ndb is off the airport but only a few miles away,
just fly to the ndb (try not to "home", but don't sweat it
if you do a bit) Then, just fly an outbound heading from the
ndb that you think will get you the right courseline (or if
you're really overloaded, just fly the same heading as the
course you want), and wait for the clock to time out!

Unless you are seriously unlucky, you'll be somewhere near
the airport and the DE will have no idea that you didn't
know what you were doing.

4. As others have said, make sure your DG is correct before you
start the approach.


Dave

--


"Mike Rapoport" wrote in message link.net...
Wow! I can't believe all the posts recommending ways of disabling the ADF!
Dumbing down the test so that you can pass it is not a good idea and that
philosophy is not going to make anyone good at anything. I like the idea of
using a flightsim to practice.

Mike
MU-2

"Ben Jackson" wrote in message
news:LgYZb.380119$na.569603@attbi_s04...
I made my first big IFR mistake. I fixed my intermittant ADF with only
a few more hours of training to go until my checkride. My glorious plan
to label it INOP (making it an expensive combination multi-channel timer
and partial panel heading memory aid) has been thwarted by a little tuner
cleaner on the card edge connector and the socket on the tray. A small
part of me was hoping that the aluminum swarf that someone rained down
on it while modifying the panel (which I removed a while ago without
fully fixing the problem) had killed it for good.

Anyone have any good NDB approach tips and tricks?

--
Ben Jackson

http://www.ben.com/