My first big IFR mistake...

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/

Anyone have any good NDB approach tips and tricks?

Disable it. You're unlikely to be good at NDB approaches if you only
have a couple of hours practice. Remember, you need to be able to do
them partial panel as well.

Yeah - yank it out of the plane for the checkride.

Michael


"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/

Anyone have any good NDB approach tips and tricks?

Practice a lot with Flight Simulator on the computer.

Jose

--
(for Email, make the obvious changes in my address)

Ben Jackson wrote:
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?


Yes. Practice, practice, practice! :-)


Matt

"Michael 182" wrote in message
news:NlYZb.374532$xy6.1935592@attbi_s02...
Yeah - yank it out of the plane for the checkride.

Michael


"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/


I'd like to back up a bit to the thwarting the intermittant ADF. We bought
a Cherokee 180C a few months back. Was told the ADF was intermittant. I
wasn't too worried, but now I'm getting heavy into IFR training. A couple
lessons seemed to find the ADF tracking fairly well (even shot approaches &
did holds). Now, it seems to "stick" quite a bit when tracking the NDB. It
might find the station fine, but during a turn, the needle doesn't follow
well. I'll flip to ANT (or whatever) to spin the needle, release & it will
get back to the station only to repeat again.

For the life of me, I cannot remember the model (it's not the ADF with the
radio and indicator in the same unit). Not being very mechanically inclined,
I'm curious about what we can do before letting a shop look at it.

Thanks!

This works for me:

1) Reset the heading indicator.
(Unlike ILS and VOR approaches, NDB approaches need the HI to be
correct.)

2) Mentally transpose the ADF needle onto the HI. The HI heading
under the imaginary ADF needle arrowhead is the bearing to the NDB.

3) (As Jose said) practice on MS Flight Sim (or your favorite PC
flight simulator.) Once you've got the no-wind approach nailed,
crank in a 30-knot cross-wind from the side towards which you turn to
do the 45-degee leg of the proceure turn.
The first time I did this, I was blown to the wrong side of the final
approach course before I completed the 180-degree turn part of the
procedure turn. I got completely confused. Glad I wasn't doing this
for real gr.
The second time I tried it, the same thing happened, but it was great
to be able to hit the pause button and work out what the instruments
were telling me.
Third time I tried it, I put in enough wind correction during the
procedure turn, and flew the approach adequately.
(FlightSim is great for some things -- It'd take an awful lot of plane
time to learn what those 15 minutes on the PC taught me. However, it
can also encourage bad habits -- I realized this after analyzing why
my landings had deteriorated. I now rarely allow myself to land the
plane on FlightSim.)


As far as actually flying the approach is concerned; when I'm
procedure turn inbound and approaching the NDB (assuming the NDB is
off airport and is the final approach fix), if the imaginary head of
the needle is to the right of the required bearing, I need to turn
right.

Once I'm past the NDB, the tail of the imaginary needle flips towards
the top of the HI. If the tail of the needle is to the right of the
required bearing, I need to turn left.

Hope this helps. I'd also be interested in hearing other people's
tips

Tim.

Ben,
Replace it with an IFR certified GPS. Well then you would have to take
the test using the GPS... :-)
Michelle

Ben Jackson wrote:

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?




--

Michelle P ATP-ASEL, CP-AMEL, and AMT-A&P

"Elisabeth" a Maule M-7-235B (no two are alike)

Volunteer Pilot, Angel Flight Mid-Atlantic

Volunteer Builder, Habitat for Humanity

Just label it INOP and say it isn't reliable. After all, would you fly
an approach in actual on an ADF fixed with some goo and not inspected
by an avionics shop?


\
(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?

I've been told there are examiners who will try an ADF marked
INOP while you're flying, and if it works, you get to fly an approach
with it. You need something a bit more drastic. Does it have a fuse
you can remove? Maybe some tissue paper or seran wrap
over the connector blade? You could remove it altogether but then
a finicky examiner will want to see a revised W&B.

I quite like the challenge of flying NDB approaches without
help from the GPS, but I'd have to be very, very desperate to do
it for real. Without a serious crosswind it isn't TOO hard, as
long as you concentrate on BOTH the heading and the ADF.
I prefer to use only the mag compass. My instructor drummed this
into me during my instrument training. I still remember the
heading for the Stockton NDB because he would chant it all
the way down final. As others have said, it does take a LOT
of practice.

John

"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/