F-86F Sabre: ADF(NDB) Navigation & IFR Landing Tutorial | DCS WORLD

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[@mikepatrick3261]

Having done these for real in the Air Force, here are a couple of pointers. Normally you would have a real published NDB approach chart to give you the numbers, but for DCS you will have to make up your own approach profile. 1. Fly direct to the NDB, and then if the final course (095 in this case) is within 90 degrees, turn toward the final course and hack the clock. Time, twist turn - hack clock (an NDB approach chart will give a time to runway based on approach speed, twist the heading bug to course, and turn airplane to new course. 130 kt approach speed is approx 2 miles per minute, so if the NDB is 4 miles from runway you should expect 2 minutes at approach speed. 2. Remember that the head falls, tail rises. This refers to the needle. When going towards the station, if you are not pointing directly at it the head of the needle will fall off or away. If you are off course you have to turn so the head of the needle will then "fall" back to your desired course. The opposite is true when going away from the station. You have to turn so the tail will "rise" back to the desired course. 3. So, fly direct to the station and at station passage (needle swings) hack the clock, twist the heading bug and turn towards the inbound course of 95 degrees. Aft the needle settles down, turn away from the tail so it will "rise" back to 95 degrees. Configure the airplane for landing before station passage if you can, otherwise do it now. 4. Vertical decent rate should be between 1,000 to 1,500 feet/min (maximum). You should have already calculated a minimum descent altitude of 4-500 ft above the runway. Station passage should be somewhere around 1,500 ft AGL. The idea is to descend at a safe speed and rate to get below the clouds in time to adjust and line up with the runway. Modern airplanes doing nonprecision approaches are more accurate on their course alignment (TACAN or VOR) so it is possible to calculate a constant rate decent similar to an ILS. I don't recommend this for an NDB approach. Get down to safe altitude with enough time to make a course correction to line up with the runway. If you used 400 as your MDA (minimum decent altitude) then your VDP (visual decent path) where you leave 400 ft for a normal 3 degree glidepath will be approx 1.3 nm from the runway threshold. 5. It's a bit trickier if coming in from the opposite direction. In this case you will have to do a turn reversal or holding pattern turn at the NDB to properly set up for final course. So, in this example if you were coming in from the west, at station passage turn towards the opposite direction of the course (in this case 275 degrees) and time the outbound leg for one minute. Finish descending to final approach fix (FAF, which is the NDB) altitude so you are at proper altitude and speed when reaching the FAF/NDB again. After the one minute, turn in the shortest direction back to the NDB, configure the airplane and slow to approach speed. Head direct to the NDB and then repeat the process from above. 6. The F-86 is MUCH trickier than other airplanes (like the F-5 doing a TACAN approach) because of the needle and compass system it uses compared to an HSI that keeps your heading at the top. The principles I listed are the same, but you have to transpose the system between two very non intuitive instruments. The NDB needle will still behave as mentioned above, but you have to transpose what it is doing on the compass needle that doesn't put your heading at the top. 7. In general, for instrument flying use small heading and pitch changes changes when on final approach and trim, trim, trim. Establish a proper scan, which means your eyes should be constantly roving from one instrument to the other so you can make sure everything stays within the per-established parameters you planned for and expect. You can practice this at altitude by tilting your head so you can only see your instruments. Try doing 30 degree bank level turns at constant airspeed, then add 500 ft/min climbs and descents to your turns to help establish your scan, smoothness and control.

[@Mike-co1fd]

Lovely tips, you are so right about point 6, it's insane how they setup the ergonomics of this aircraft. Can I ask you, what is the best way to deal with wind correction, especially if you don't know the winds enroute which is usually the case?

[@mikepatrick3261]

@@Mike-co1fd When you don't know the winds you start with the baseline course and see what it does. If you drift off then add a bit of correction (no more than 5 degrees) at a time and see what it does. The key is to do things slowly and establish a new baseline. For example, if the course is 360 and the course keeps drifting to the left, fly 355 and see what it does. If it stops, then add a few more degrees to correct to course then fly 355 as your baseline. Remember that if doing an NDB you are only using needles and if the head is falling to the left you have to turn left and past the head so it will fall back to the right and get back to course.

[@Mike-co1fd]

@@mikepatrick3261 Thank you Mike, it's also quite normal to be well off the final course on final approach right? I'm playing around with some strong crosswinds and often times the needle does not go back to the desired course in time, although I would still be able to identify where the runway is.

[@mikepatrick3261]

@@Mike-co1fd Your goal is to be as close to course as you can so no, you shouldn't be too far off. 10 degrees off course for NDB inside the FAF (Final Approach Fix/Outer marker) is enough to call a missed approach. For stronger crosswinds you need even more correction. But remember this is a NON precision approach, so while the course should bring you to the runway when on course you won't necessarily be lined up with the runway. That is why minimums for a nonprecision approach are higher than a precision (ILS) approach. Whereas ILS mins will be down to 200 ft AGL or less, a non precision approach will typically be 400 ft or higher. This is so you can see the runway sooner and have time to make a proper alignment. Also don't forget that if the NDB is behind you the "tail rises" and you have to do the opposite of when the NDB is in front of you.

[@stargazer79]

NDB = Non Directional Beacon , ADF = Automatic direction finder. NDBs are 1930s-1950s technology, a radio beacon that an ADF can lock on to and give a bearing, and carries no range or reciprocal bearing information itself, dumb radio beeper. This is as opposed to modern VOR(VHF Onmidirectional Range) and TACAN(Tactical Air Navigation) systems, which provide multiple narrow, encoded radio beams in a 360 degree wagon wheel around the station, which allows the aircraft to measure its deviation from a set course across the VOR station.

[@grimreapers]

thanks

[@aiolos2411]

I like to think of NDBs like an AM radio station tower. Its broadcasting music in all directions but you can use it to navigate because your aircraft's ADF antenna is able to give you a bearing to that tower's location. I've flown a few aircraft that have that feature. Anyway, just another way to think about it.

[@pnzrldr]

My old airplane had an ADF and I wound up having to fly an ADF approach on my instrument check ride. Not something you practice extensively with your CFII, and it had me really on the edge of my seat! Got it done and passed the check, though I was so rattled I flew around for ten minutes after going missed with my flaps still down!

[@Jeff-Vader_head_of_catering]

This is one of the coolest videos you've done! I know it's not sexy and packed with action, but it's super technical, and these kinds of things are what I've always wondered about pilots and navigation! I've wanted to be a fighter pilot since I was a little kid. I just never had the math skills.

[@williamstilgoe61]

Same for me

[@Skyfaller2010]

I never had the vision or the math skills...

[@Thumper770]

A word on the radio compass: It helps to think of it as pointing at the beacon. Just turn to wherever it's pointing and forget about the numbers. If it's pointing at 090, turn 90 degrees to the right. If it's pointing straight up, the beacon is in front of you. As you said, make sure the radio compass points to zero AND you are on the right heading for the runway and you should be golden.

[@suecobandito8954]

We had the old coffee grinder ADF in the T-28B (it had a crank to tune it). NDB is non-directional beacon. You can listen to AM radio on the ADF. We also had it in the KC-130 as well. The old approach to Ky Tek (Hong Kong Int’l), combined ADF, VOR and NDB plus the “checkerboard” verbal callout to approach control. A busy approach to say the least.

[@Thumper770]

Ever see Die Hard 2? They talk about the outer marker. They were wanting to beef up the wattage so instead of just beeping, you could send voice over it. (Not sure it quite works like that for real but, yeah...) That's what an NDB is. It's just a radio beacon that beeps. Your radio picks up that beep and can tell which direction it's coming from, giving you a reading on the gauge. Some airports have multiple markers. Outer at 25 miles, middle at 15 miles, and inner at 5 miles. They each have a different kind of beep so you'll know which marker you're over.

[@rongamblin2107]

Thank You guys for this ! I learned so much from this one video. TEX in the USA

[@Thumper770]

@18:02 "Everything I have to do, I have to do on the instruments..." Well, yeah. That's why it's called IFR (Instrument Flying Rules).

[@grizzly4736]

Wow. Thank you Cap and Riddler for this. I just picked up the Saber over the Autumn sale and needed this tutorial. You are correct, old school navigation and you have to stay on the trim with the Saber.

[@kentyannayon3741]

An NDB is called non-directional because it does not transmit direction unlike TACAN/VOR. There's only one signal from the NDB and the (ADF) receiver tells you where it's coming from. With the VOR, there's two signals and the receiver measures the difference between the two to inform the pilot of how far from the selected radial the pilot is. This is a much better system in the clouds because on some routes a few degrees difference is the difference between cumulus nimbus and cumulus granitus. Also, VOR is less affected by thunderstorms, NDB/ADF can be heavily interfered by thunderstorms, and if I remember correctly, this did cause some crashes in mountainous regions as the pilots could not tell exactly where they were and found cumulus granitus. It amazes me that pilots were able to go into the clouds, navigate to a target area, complete their mission, and navigate back before the introduction of satellite navigation.

[@Polymath9000]

Years of experience,terrain familiarisation works wonders.

[@user-qz3pr911]

U make learning all this fun bro! Thanks for the vids. Great job!

[@nimrodquimbus912]

CAP should get free planes, since he does all the promotion for DCS/Eagle Dynamics.

[@DoveEnigma13]

I think he has gotten a few

[@tangoalfa1970]

He would still fly that cappy f5

[@mousepd]

Agreed

[@dr.tankenstien]

ADF locks onto the transmitted signal and points an arrow at it. The US Navy utilized the ADF system in select aircraft that fly over water for long distances. The S-3B Viking and P-3C Orion both had an ADF system as part of their redundant navigation systems. ADF systems, both military and civilian, can be tuned to Music Stations to home in on them to bring you home. ADF has an operating frequency of between 190 kHz and 1750 kHz. There are four types of Non-Directional Beacons currently in use in the USA. Enroute NDB's to mark Airways, Approach NDB's, Localizer and Locator Beacons. Locator and Localizer NDB's are utilized as part of an ILS System.

[@grimreapers]

Thanks Tank

[@richardperry21]

Sorry, that was true now days. Years ago yes, but in 2019 FAA has been decommissioning stand-alone NDBs as users equip with GPS. NDBs used as compass locators, or as other required fixes for ILS approaches (e.g., initial approach fix, missed approach holding), where no equivalent ground-based means are available, may need to be maintained until the underlying ILS is phased out. Some NDBs may also need to be maintained to facilitate training and proficiency requirements. Most NDBs that define low-frequency airways in Alaska or serve international gateways and certain offshore areas like the Gulf of Mexico will be retained.

[@cmibm6022]

Again a very good tutorial! Your problem CAP is that you did not trim the plane very early. That way you would have avoided all that wobbling between a "sink rate" of - 3000 and + 1000. Trim, trim and trim and let the plane fly it self.

[@DoveEnigma13]

This is what happens when he doesn’t ask the sabre master

[@chuckhoward3626]

The NDB terminology is correct; the beacon is non directional by itself without an ADF unit onboard. Were it transmitting its map coordinates, then it would be another story. It puts out a signal in all directions. If someone else is using the same frequency, your screwed. A VOR is a sophisticated version of the same system. The VOR has a primary omnidirectional signal (like the NDB), and a 360 degree sweeping highly directional secondary signal embedded onto it that creates a 90 degree phase shift 30 time a second. The VOR in your aircraft is looking for the phase shift called a radial. It is like a lighthouse but using radio waves.

[@grimreapers]

Thanks Chuck

[@Skyfaller2010]

Thanks so much!

[@mariushusejacobsen3221]

If your ADF radio set is capable of tuning higher frequencies, you can also use ADF to find the direction to VORs and I expect even TACANs if you convert channel to frequency. You just won't get the additional information those beacons are capable of giving. The F18 radios are capable of this.

[@grimreapers]

oh cool

[@jhill4071]

During the Korean War and for several years thereafter there was a network of Air Force operated Direction finder installations. Someone could come up on 243.0 Guard and broadcast the term "Stargazer" and their call sign. 1956 on an small island 40-miles east of Inchon seven E-3 airman operated an FM radio relay site from a 1,000 foot mountain peak connecting the Aircraft Control and Warning Radar site on the 38th paralle and the Air Defence Command Center at the K-55 Osan F-86F fighter base. Our never used Stargazer receiver could show their compass heading relative to our position and we could give the pilot that heading and our call sigh (Rockaway Cocoa) location relative to Inchon. If he could get a second or third Stargazer station to give him a bearing he had a "dog fix" and that could have provided a fairly good idea of where he was and a heading for a fighter base at Suwon or Osan.

[@glennet9613]

Another excellent video, thanks. I’m having trouble setting the frequency range, is there a bug? It seems to work if I’m flying and switch to compass first but not always on the ground or if I get the order wrong. I can turn the knob but the range doesn’t change.

[@grimreapers]

I haven;t tried it in a log time but worked last time I tried.

[@glennet9613]

Thanks for the reply, I really appreciate all your videos, you are the only consistently good source for a newby like me. BTW getting back to the sabre, I accidentally found that if you show the kneeboard it gives the current frequency under RADIO and it updates as you change it, you don’t have to bother with trying to read the dial.

[@DoveEnigma13]

If you had vr you could look at the display and hit the frequency easier.

[@testthepest6259]

@SUPERCAP Because i'm a snob i have the NS 430

[@gabtheriault122]

This shit is awesome!

[@leew8812]

Excellent job ! thanks

[@richardperry21]

You have no earthly idea what you are saying!!!!!

[@eddievhfan1984]

Nice set of IFR videos you've been doing! BTW, that's *NDB* in the title, not NBD. Although it's NBD if it's not NDB. (lol nerd jokes) It's called a non-directional beacon because the radio waves are traveling out in all directions; VOR and TACAN do actually steer part of the navigation signal around in a circle to provide direction information. With an NDB, you have to use specialized receiver equipment to determine the station bearing by comparing signal strengths from multiple points on the aircraft (older or simpler units utilize a rotating loop antenna with a "sense" antenna).

[@grimreapers]

Whoops Thanks!

[@smirnoff1589]

so what does the gauge do that looks like an ILS instrument?

[@MarvinCZ]

That's an aiming system for tossing nuclear bombs: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKu1mK2CpJafipI

[@LawmanIL]

This doesn't really explain how to intercept the bearing you want. It's easy to fly toward the beacon, but I can't figure out how to properly intercept the bearing I want.

[@grimreapers]

Roger noted

[@GG-gu6ri]

soooo.... no waypoints?

[@cyborgbadger1015]

I hope I win a prize forthe 200th like.

[@Mrdoughlicious]

Riddler is a real pilot but thinks that 240kts is 4nm per minute lol

[@grimreapers]

Yeh. Don't get in his Airbus....

[@Mrdoughlicious]

Just joking around anyways no harm

[@Mrdoughlicious]

Actually he's correct but he didn't say nautilcal miles per minute, he just said miles lol

[@origin8374]

Please nobody take this man's advice. Jesus christ. We may as well be teaching him how to use ADF. He's learning as he goes and still messing half of the facts up.