Learning to Fly the NDB

Like driving a stick shift on a car, the non-directional beacon (NDB) approach is a handy skill for pilots.

Meg Godlewski

Wednesday, December 04, 2024 at 08:51 AM ET

Verified

Edited By: tccjeremy

The fact is that NDB approaches, while increasingly rare, are still out there. [Shutterstock]

Key Takeaways:

NDB approaches, though increasingly rare, are still covered in FAA documentation and check rides, making the ability to fly them a valuable backup skill for instrument pilots.
The article details NDB/ADF fundamentals, explaining how the ground-based NDB transmits signals received by the aircraft's ADF, and how the ADF needle indicates the relative and magnetic bearing to the station.
Flying an NDB approach involves techniques like timing after station passage and making calculated wind corrections, while being aware of limitations such as terrain interference, precipitation static, and signal refraction near shorelines.

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Do you know how to fly a non-directional beacon (NDB) approach using an automatic direction finder (ADF)? Could you teach someone how to do it?

Before you go off on the “new and better technology” available to instrument pilots, no one is disputing that. But the fact is that NDB approaches, while increasingly rare, are still out there. And there are still airplanes equipped with ADFs that enable the pilot to fly these NDB approaches—if only someone taught them how.