Instrument Rating

[Oktas8]

Hi Flyndad,

Do you have an HSI? And is your ADF an RMI (i.e. not fixed card ADF, not adjustable card ADF)?

Pull the tail, push the head
- Pull the tail towards desired bearing if tracking FROM, push the head towards desired bearing if tracking TO. (Some pilots, including myself, don't like this because it is not good for fixed card ADF and some people don't like have two rules for whether tracking TO or FROM. But it's a simple rule and an old one!)

Turn towards the head
- Use the HSI as a desired track marker. Imagine the ADF needle superimposed on the HSI. Turn towards the head - that is, if the head of the needle is on the left side of the desired track bar, turn left to fix. If it's to the right of the desired track bar, turn right. (This one works for fixed card, adjustable card or RMI, and it works whether tracking TO or FROM the beacon.)

Fly the tail
- Imagine you are at the tail of the ADF and the beacon is at the centre. Again, using the HSI as a desired track marker, fly the aircraft to drag the tail to where you want it to go. (Works for all ADF's and whether TO or FROM, but ignores the head of the needle which is a little hard to get used to. A big plus is you can use this technique to fly directly from one bearing / DME fix to another - e.g. from bearing 120°/12DME to 173°/14DME without a GPS or radar vectors.)

You might already know this Flyndad, but in case you haven't been told by your instructor, try to develop a sense of where you are in your head, particularly on approaches. At any time you should be able to put your finger on the chart and say "I'm here, going in this direction, xxx miles to run until [event] happens." A little bit of that, is better in the long run than a whole lot of super-accurate ±5° tracking.

Merry Christmas!
O8