Quite true .. BUT ... to use these generally low powered NDB approaches you were expected to be on an IFR flight plan and co-ordinated by an active FIS and required to make appropriate radio calls to other possible traffic.
The fact that the beacons themselves were often practically useless as one often got the 'ident' only as you crossed over the airfield boundary is arguable ... they did sort of help you find the airport over some quite featureless terrain
I couldn't agree more. From my experience, these low powered NDBs were more for general navigation than making a IFR approach, although my point was that it is "in theory" possible, but in practice not much use, as the procedures required to make this of any use, effectively require it to be at an airfield with some form of control, and to give you any sort of minima worth using, it would probably need a radar.