Helicopter Instrument - ADF's

[freereality]

Dang it! I can't get the java to run on the ADF or VOR trainer that Angelfire posted. It has been 35 years since I've seen one.

 

You folks talking about flying the needles got me to reminiscing. Do you youngsters really find an ADF or VOR approach difficult? As I recall holding at a VOR intersection was a real pain with only a single VOR receiver and flying the back course localizer could get you confused, because the radial/bearing was backward, other than that everything was straight forward.

 

My instrument examiner thought that having all that modern stuff (RMI, Omni Direction Indicator) was just spoiling us. He swore he made ADF approaches to LGA turning the ADF antenna, while listening for the null and void.

 

I guess I'm going to have to get a computer program to see all the new tools (toys) y'all get to play with these days.

[Bootcamp]

Quick question to all of our expert CFII's and instrument pilots:

 

Taking the FAA Instrument - Helo next week, and for the life of me I can't figure out why the FAA has so many ADF questions. I counted like 45 or something. Now, I have never seen an ADF in a helicopter.

 

So my questions are:

 

1. Why does the FAA have so many questions on this topic?

2. On the oral, do they really ask about them?

 

-john

 

I can't answer you as to why the FAA has so many questions on ADFs. I believe I remember seeing maybe one or two of them on the actually written exam for both helicopter instrument and helicopter CFII. As for the oral exam, I've never had an examiner ask me a question about them. I went before two different examiners - one for my helicopter instrument and another for my helicopter CFII.

[Gomer Pylot]

Yes, the ability to fly a needle is a useful skill to have, no doubt. But the reality is that NDBs are going away, in the US and in the rest of the world. It's just not economically viable to maintain them when their usefulness decreases. GPS works anywhere - that's what Global means. It matters not whether the local navaids are VORs, NDBs, or simply GPS waypoints. The GPS can pinpoint them far more precisely than the radio receivers in the aircraft, and there is no need to spend the time and money to maintain the transmitters, or to maintain the power to them. The simple fact is that GPS is going to take over all the navigation tasks for everyone, everywhere, eventually, whether we like it or not. The EFIS needles Joker referred to can be generated by the GPS receiver, with no need to even turn on the ADF. It's all done electronically, and that makes things more reliable. The ADF needle can point all over the place with heavy lightning in the area, but the GPS, and the computer in the FMS, can still make the needle on the screen point directly to the NDB's actual location. The old light beacons on the airways went away, and the radio ranges went away, and eventually the VORs and NDBs will go away. Technology advances, and the world moves on, and we have to keep up with it.

[Brooks]

Anyone having trouble with ADF's might want to check out this website. The designer obviously spent some time on it. I found it helpful, not just for ADF, but VOR, HSI and icing.