Well.. I want to sharppen my NDB approach skills. ILS is getting boring/easy.Do you know which are the good NDB approaches out there. The difficult ones in mountenous regions would be nice so that I'll get an immediate feed back if I go off course on windy conditions. ;)Any ideas? Thanks.Or even any other non precision approaches would be much appreciated.Thanks.Manny

NDB approaches and navigation aids are pretty much being phased out as obsolete. Better to pursue other non-precision methods I think.Rob

I think thats only in the US. There are plenty of them around many parts of the world.. I would think. Manny

Don't know if it is still active, but the NDB-5 approach into KMMU (my local airfield) has a bit of a twist, so to speak, to it. Many a student instrument pilot have failed to notice an important detail about the approach until it was too late (myself included!) -- fortunately it was my instructor who got me, instead of the examiner. :)Actually, now that I look at the approach plate, it's also called the GPS RWY 5 approach, so it should still be available for the foreseeable future.

Charles Woods' navigation tutorial covers ADF approaches in detail and gives several examples from the New York state area.

Forgot the Charles Wood URL (and it's Wood, not Woods, as I wrote a minute ago). http://www.navfltsm.addr.com/index.htm

"Many a student instrument pilot have failed to notice an important detail about the approach"What is that imported detail?http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/153553.gifJozef K. http://homepages.onsnet.nu/~jkusters/signature.jpg

Hi,What I do sometimes is this.Make a flight plan using just NDBs from A to B in a lumpy area and print that out. That gives you the altitude you should be at at any given NDB and will keep you out of the hillsides!Then, load that flight and fly it using the GPS,either manually or autopiloted and by referring to the printed out flight plan you will have your altitudes as well at any given point. Try it on a flight to Aspen!Andy.

They forget to turn 020 at the NDB (FAF)?Manny

Andy,If I fly above the bumb..there may not be a penalty. If I try to fly around the valley, how would I get the altitiude and the MRA for the NDB?MannyI know there is a VOR/DME to aspen.. is there an NDB approach? Hmmmm...

different minima and timings when using Newark altimeter setting instead of local ??? other than that i see nothing difficult in this approach ..If you want to do some good NDB approaches, try LFAT (Le Touqet), LFAC (Calais) or LFQT (Merville), all in France .. i went there for real IFR training, you had to stay focused flying those in IMC ..another good one is the 2 NDB approach at EBOS .. NDB's in flightsim are way too steady, in real life you for sure appreciate why they are called non-precision approach .. try flying an NDB approach at an airfield close to the sea, you'll see what i mean ..Jan

Hey KMMU!Thats my home field too. Where do you rent (or own). I fly a 172 out of certified flyers in the west tie down.

Hi Manny,I must apologise as I don't think there is an NDB only approach to Aspen! Old age and general deteriorstion of the grey mater.However I post a screenie of the Navlog which shows the minimum safe altitudes on the way there, regardless of conditions or time of day;but presumably you would be unable to land there VFR at night (?) or in bad weather, so the navlog gets you safely to the nearest point from where to see whether you have the option to landhttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/153592.jpgThat puts you 5,500 ft above the runway 13 miles away and the gps will show you the contours on the last bit.it's a bad example really and I apologise again for getting your hopes up in such a cruel way!Andy.

Its all right.. Thanks Andy.BTW... Aspen is one of my fav approaches. The The step down VOR/DME Approach.:)Manny

Exactly. Quite easy to do if you are assuming that the approach continues on course at the FAF, instead of it requiring a turn. And at the time you cross the FAF, you're also thinking about clicking off the timer to start timing to the MAP. The "six T's" help tho - Turn, Time, Twist, Throttle, Talk, Track.