Hour 4
The only new thing today was NDB tracking. Now a few had mentioned that this would be "interesting" and indeed they are correct.
We tracked from the Daventry VOR out towards Lichfield NDB and the line on the chart showed we should be tracking in on the 330 QDM. A quick ident of the beacon and away we went. However, it rapidly became apparent how outdated NDB's are. Their expected accuracies are +/- 6 degreeswhich over a 50 mile leg works out at 5 miles, assuming that you have set the DI accurately and fly the headings exactly. Allowing for me setting the DI out by one or two degrees
and then my inexact instrument skills we had an area of about +/- 10 degrees from the QDM, about 8 miles either side of track! Now a quick glance at the controlled airspace either side of Birmingham and East Midlands rapidly seems to become very tight and it wasn't long until my instructor asked me to track a QDM of 320 degrees to keep clear of controlled airspace.
I have to say the mental arithmetic of working out the bearings of the beacon and subsequent headings really took me unawares. Although when we turned overhead Lichfield the return QDR seemed much easier to follow (and accurate I might add) I'm wondering if anyone had any good tips for NDB tracking. My aircraft is quite basic and only has a DI and seperate ADF showing relative bearing (although the compass card under the ADF needle can be spun round).
Any of you IR/IMC boffins give us a clue here?
In the mean time, this was the second flight where I didn't get a chance to try for an instrument approach - spoiled by the incoming 737
For me they have been the most enlightening part of the course and I can't wait to do more.
Tim,
What sort of things did you cover in your refresher? And whilst I'm at it, do the flightsim navaids have real world attributes ie. ranges and accuracies?
Cheers
Obs cop