To ADF or Not to ADF

[Jerry 5TJ]

As of December 2022, the FAA says there are still 209 published NDB approaches.  But I’m hard pressed to find one nearby for training or amusement.  
https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/flight_info/aeronav/procedures/ifp_inventory_summary/

 

[Fly Boomer]

3 minutes ago, Jerry 5TJ said:

As of December 2022, the FAA says there are still 209 published NDB approaches.  But I’m hard pressed to find one nearby for training or amusement.  
https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/flight_info/aeronav/procedures/ifp_inventory_summary/

 

May not be much help now, but someone compiled a list from 2014:

https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/3532/where-to-obtain-a-list-of-active-ndb-approaches

[midlifeflyer]

1 hour ago, Fly Boomer said:

May not be much help now, but someone compiled a list from 2014:

https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/3532/where-to-obtain-a-list-of-active-ndb-approaches

Yeah, but one can always get an up-to-date listing.

@Jerry 5TJ pointed to the inventory page, but the advanced search on the site (https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/flight_info/aeronav/procedures/) can bring them all up.  This is as of today. If you want, you can limit it to a state, a Terminal Procedres region,, etc. 

Edit: We have 8 in North Carolina.

[GeeBee]

Last NDB I shot was at EGPH (Edinburgh, Scotland) in a 767 in 2009.

My airline stopped ordering new airplanes with ADFs post 2010.

The NDB approach everyone messed up was Monterey, CA because you shot the approach off the LOM, BUT.....the missed approach track was of the LMM outbound. They have decommissioned the navaids and the approach but I could always  tell if an instrument pilot was about if he remembered to retune the ADF in the middle of the 150 degree climbing turn off the approach.

The lowest NDB I knew of was KOAK RWY 29. (It is gone too) Took you down to 250' HAT because there was nothing to hit out in the middle of the bay and the missed was straight ahead. 

 

[Ibra]

We still have plenty in UK, GPS is not mature enough and less reliable than NDB according to CAA  I stopped flying them after I almost killed myself flying one in Scottish Islands 

While I still ask for ATC for NDB and I have ADF fitted, I fly GPS guidance from database or simple OBS...the ADF is better left for listenning to cricket games on Saturday afternoons 

France still have some, there is one interesting NDB at Annecy (LFLP) if one is brave: ADF with stopwatch guidance where NDB stays 6nm behind with 4 mountains in front, the good news if you can't find the runway when it times out, there is a lake to ditch on rather than attempting the missed 

You can mimic RMI guidance with GPS but I guess you wanted a real wing dip plus various errors from terrains and thunderstorms...also, most people who teach NDB these days and swear with them don't even fly them for real, the value of such claims has to be taken with pinch of salt...

Edited February 5, 2023 by Ibra

[carusoam]

KMMU Morristown, NJ… used to have an ADF station in one of their missed approach procedures…

A quick review of their charts today… lots of intersections and a VOR are used instead…

Best regards,

-a-

[Pinecone]

I have flown something like 3 or 4 NDB approaches in my life.  And all but one was in my CFII training/checkride.

The one real one was into Morehead City, NC, and was the only approach they had at the time.  But it took you out over the ocean and the clouds were over land and stopped at the shore line.  So once I got out over the ocean, I could turn back and see the field and do a visual.  I guess I should count that one as only 1/2 an approach.

\

[hubcap]

I am not interested in an ADF nor would I want to give up the weight.

[midlifeflyer]

Unless I flew in a country where ADF was still a significant navigation tool, if I kept an old school unit, I'd keep DME. I'm thinking in terms of the MON backup to GPS failure. There are still plenty if ILS OR LOC approaches where DME is required if the GS goes out. But even that is pretty remote.

OTOH, if I wanted to listen to AM radio in flight...

[Raymond J1]

Still a few stations in France, which had to disappear to be replaced by VOR...
But the VOR disappeared before ADF...
It's good for listening to AM on a night flight...

[Ibra]

10 hours ago, midlifeflyer said:

OTOH, if I wanted to listen to AM radio

I found the music style on AM bands is bit nostalgia, definetly not FM top hot billboards of the season  maybe it's what one needs to hear with an ADF 

Edited February 7, 2023 by Ibra

[midlifeflyer]

39 minutes ago, Ibra said:

I found the music style on AM bands is bit nostalgia, definetly not FM top hot billboards of the season  maybe it's what one needs to hear with an ADF 

I used to fly in the Denver area. KOA radio is (was?) one of those crazy strong stations that can be received a long way off. It was also the station that carried NFL football games. I once took off from KABQ (Albuquerque, NM), picked up the station at altitude and flew the almost 300 nm direct while listening to the game.

[Canadian Gal]

Is it beside the 8 track player?