FSX Tutorial: ADF Navigation

Here's several practical ways to use the ADF to navigate in poor visibility. I explain the pros and cons of Homing, Tracking and Bracketing and demonstrate each navigation technique (the best I can!).
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A2A Cessna C172: a2asimulations.com/store/index...
Copyright © 2015 - Doofer911 - All Rights Reserved.
DISCLAIMER: While this video is intended for educational purposes, I must stress that I am not a professional pilot or instructor and I am not certified in any way with regards to Aviation or Education. Every subject I talk about is based on my personal study and understanding. Therefore the information I give may be incorrect or inaccurate and should NOT be used as a reference for real world flying.
Footage of the A2A Cessna 172 was used with permission from A2A Simulations.

[@randyclark1221]

This series is absolutely the best I've ever found for learning the fundamentals of FSX. I watch them repeatedly to make sure I get the detail out of them. Very well done.

[@ColinRichardson]

This is ALL the stuff I wanted to learn. I am going through all your videos now..

[@red-qy8ii]

I'm progressing through your FSX tutorial series and have to say the videos are the best out there for beginners. Thanks and please keep em coming.

[@Doofer911]

+red 9556 I'm glad you're enjoying them! :)

[@MinDTraX]

I fully agree

[@brianmallon2361]

Well, as an old duffer, nearly 70! just getting the hang of fsx aviation, I,D like to say this video has been very helpful. Keep up the good work, I,ll start night flying soon, thanks a lot. B.Mallon

[@Doofer911]

+Brian Mallon Hey Brian, welcome to the world of FSX! Glad to hear that my video has helped you.

[@seattleboatguy]

I thought your explanation was really well done. I've been playing around with adf theory, and it had not dawned on me that the 2 needles should be off by the same amount, but in opposite directions. Very clever. Sounds like adf is now fading into history as newer nav technologies gain in popularity.

[@asmaaelhachimi224]

Thank you for simplifying for beginners, I struggled so much to understand what is it about, your video made the concept so clear. Thanks

[@Doofer911]

You are welcome, I'm happy that you liked the video

[@xpenguin7378]

anyone else going over these tutorials for MSF2020 :D

[@luizsaurin5702]

yup, and it's really helping

[@KingGavens]

2D panel would also be useful with this new version!

[@RedSailor1701]

This is very useful for the Private pilots licence and has just made the “stupid stick” make sense! 🤘

[@OrcCorp]

Brilliant bruh! 👌🏻😁 refreshing my memory from years ago with your excellent tutorials. Preparing for the FS2020 😎🛩✈👨🏻‍✈️ Can't wait to see your new videos with it.

[@billymkirkwood4956]

Doofer911 i have recently in past 6 months got back into FSX again after many years. I'm loving this channel and how you explain to the viewers who may have a complete understanding, as well as those who may have no or very basic knowledge in this field. Having PPL practice myself i feel the lessons you are teaching are very well explained :)

[@billymkirkwood4956]

Also i would like to add that i thought it was pretty good that the needle deflection wasnt going to plan as in real life it doesnt always which showed the crosswind factor or wind drift bracketed and the need to adjust with small increments to get back and stay on track of the ADF, in just the same way as you would with the VOR radial.... Keep up the fantastic great work you do and the depth you go to, to make it easier for people to understand it better. Well done on this as my view is this is the best channel for tuition out there.

[@Boamonster1]

I really appreciate you doing this. You explain all the navigation equipment super well!

[@Doofer911]

I did my best :)

[@ianturner2229]

Well done Doofer911, the clearest explanation I have ever seen of what is a very difficult problem for newer pilots who are (mostly) used to flying with a GPS screen in their faces and believe they have no need to learn this sort of GOOD OLE FASHIONED steam gauge navigation technique. Great job......

[@Ste967]

Crisp and clear. Very well done video!

[@Doofer911]

Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!

[@Corsair8X]

I found your explanation of bracketing very clear. It has helped me cement that in my mind.

[@banjo2019]

Great job my friend. It’s March 2021 and I just used your 2015 video here to finally figure out ADF.

[@skel3110]

Brilliant Doofer! Like all your tutorials you make it so easy to understand what can be a complex subject

[@Doofer911]

+skel3110 I'm glad it came across that way! The ADF was my first complex navigation video so I'm glad it came out well

[@bobbit5189]

i am training for my PPL at present (20 hours in and nav starting to be introduced) this is a hell of a lot easier to get your head round than reading books or my instructor trying to explain it whilst i am trying to fly the plane, carrying out checklists, watching my height heading and air speed at the same time! (brain overload) -well done great job!

[@Doofer911]

+bobbit51 Hey bobbit, glad this video is helping you out! I feel like I have a duty to say that I'm not a real pilot or CFI so this video is just based on my personal understanding of ADF. If your instructor advises you to use it in a certain way, take their word over mine. If you're struggling to understand it all in-flight, ask them to go over things when you're back on the ground, I imagine you're paying them good money to teach you so get your money's worth from them! haha.

[@bobbit5189]

+Doofer911 - fully under stand that- i ALLWAYS take my instructors advice over anyone's interpretations/opinions- don't worry - after all there is no reset in real world flying!! its just that watching you explain it supplements what he has told me and sometimes you get that "ah ha, THAT'S what he meant!" and believe me he is very quick to correct my mistakes!! lol. as a PPL student i/we try to absorb as much info as we possibly can from as many sources as we can (believe me its a lot) and any thing we find that makes things easier to understand is helpful.

[@Doofer911]

bobbit51 Good good! I just have this fear that someone will do something during a real flight then say "But this guy on KZbin said...." lol. I'm really glad my video helped you find that breakthrough, best of luck for the rest of your studies, I hope to follow in your footsteps and earn a PPL myself one day!

[@kengunn31]

Well done Doofer!. You have a talent for teaching. Simple and easy-to-understand tutorials. Just setting up to demonstrate must have taken some preparation. Thanks for your efforts. I have learnt a lot.

[@Doofer911]

Thank you for the kind comment Ken, I'm glad my videos come across as intended!

[@robalderden5888]

TYVM! Never understood this from the books. ADF and VOR are getting clearer now for me. i guess i find myself soon flying at night ;-)

[@rjc0234]

Who would have thought all these years later we would be getting a new flight simulator! And they still transfer over to FS2020! fantastic video, and one of the shorter and concise ones.

[@jonnworld3070]

Your videos are excellent. Just started getting back to this game after a long time. Now I actually decided to learn and know how to do things properly.

[@Doofer911]

Hey Jon, I'm glad you're enjoying them! Hope my videos can help you learn everything

[@franwoon]

Great video. You made an unclear topic so much more understandable. Many thanks!

[@josephkeyler5505]

Really like your videos. Thanks for taking the time to post them.

[@genaddi1234]

I'll be flying around the world in a dc-3 and I wouldn't have been able to do it without this guy

[@Doofer911]

That's fantastic, sounds like it'll be an amazing adventure!

[@rycker30]

I agree with Red 9556. Your Vids are very good. I've only started to watch a couple of them but are quite informative. Thank you very much for taking the time in making these videos. Makes it a lot easier for us beginners to understand and getting more enjoying in FSX. Appreciate you taking the time.

[@Doofer911]

No problem at all, glad you're enjoying the videos :)

[@nicklomas181]

Thanks for your videos, I got back into flight sims 4 weeks ago, I've only played IL-2 1946, War Thunder and Kerbal Space Program over the past few years. You've really helped me get back into it. currently playing FSX:SE on my laptop with a Thrustmaster HOTAS. already got my future setup in mind, Honeycomb A + B. I'm hoping now that you have a glorious setup and still into flight sims.

[@Doofer911]

Hey Nick, really glad to hear that you're getting back into flight sim. Hope you get your new setup soon, not tried the Honeycomb products myself but heard a lot of good things about them!

[@nicklomas181]

@@Doofer911 Currys is currently selling the Honeycomb alpha yoke for £150 instead of £250

[@anonharingenamn]

Thank you. This means I can finally try to fly without a GPS! I can just use skyvector and ADF stations! :)

[@corswaager710]

Hello Doofer911 again a very good and clear explained video. Thank you for your effort to make this for us. Now I want to see all your tutorials. Keep on making them please. Cor.

[@Doofer911]

Oh I will, don't worry :P

[@rackum44]

thanks so much for these videos you do. I like simple and like to fly my simulator.somethings are hard to learn unless it's hands on like you do.. thanks again

[@frunomaol5069]

Thanks Doofer. (I think autopilot was engaged, as suggested by an earlier viewer.) This point helped me understand the second half of the video.

[@bmbpdk]

really well done tut! This helps me a lot becomming a "analog" pilot A new subscriber 😀

[@Fifou001]

hello, am a new huge fan of your channel, i can't thank you enough for your efforts

[@philliphill3390]

It was a very good example, thank you. You could use your simulation speed option to speed up the video for quicker needle movement examples.

[@spiro5327]

Well isn't that incredible. I have watched video after video after video on u tube regarding ADF/NDB and have not been able to get my head around it. The 2 videos you have posted especially this one have really helped me understand much better this navigation aid. The fact that you are not an instructor or pilot makes these videos even more amazing. I will keep an eye out for more of your videos, thank you so much.

[@Doofer911]

+silo granz Wow that is incredible, I'm glad my videos helped!

[@masoodbm]

Excellent mate. I finally understood the concept of ADF. thank you

[@Doofer911]

You're welcome!

[@hellosiri1483]

your instrument videos are perfect for my CPL instrument flying. Thanks Man

[@Doofer911]

You have no idea how happy I am that my work can be considered for CPL level study :D

[@johnp3922]

Actually studying for my pilots license and am 6/9 exams through. Genuinely using your videos instead of the books regarding the VOR and NDB for NAV. So easy to understand and easily able to follow up with what you teach, in the real aircraft. Thank a lot!

[@Doofer911]

Wow that's awesome, thanks very much. Please do double check anything in my videos with your instructor though. I've barely done any real world flying myself, I'm merely a flight sim enthusiast.

[@johnp3922]

Doofer911 no need passed the exams! Reading the books is sometimes hard to visualise what they're trying to get across but these videos helped a lot! Cheers!

[@coffincorner1180]

Thanks, good video, properly the only good one on youtube explaining ADF in a simple way. :)

[@Doofer911]

+MASDI MASDI Thanks for the kind comment, glad you enjoyed it! :)

[@ch4ob4y]

Very very good video for IR training . Thank you so much , your videos helped me a lot .

[@Doofer911]

Glad the video could help :)

[@GaryNumeroUno]

Dont forget to fly the plane Doofer...! Many CFITs have occurred with crews focused on and fiddling with stuff inside the cockpit. Great tuition though. You are a natural trainer... keep it up.

[@canadiandude1974]

Great video. Thanks for the effort! 👍👍

[@szacsp]

Doofer911, it's great tutorial for ADF...I want to know, wind measure in knots, at what knots of wind i need to calculate RBI and HDG? thanks

[@Noio_]

Very interesting explanation. Thank you very much for the tutorial

[@Doofer911]

You're welcome, thanks for watching!

[@Mika-dj4np]

i love your vidéos, it helps me a lot with my pilot licence ! you would be a great instructor !

[@Doofer911]

I'm glad the video could help! I guess I am kind of a virtual instructor at the moment :D

[@karmaramamusic7320]

Really useful and clear videos! Thanks

[@Doofer911]

You're welcome, glad you enjoyed the videos :)

[@Snake_Bite_666]

These videos are very informative, thank you. Those pops and bumps from your microphone drive me crazy though. I've had to turn it off because of that.

[@brandon5058]

I really appreciate this, thankyou! ❤

[@muskelwerwolfchin1005]

Vielen Dank dann habe ich wieder was dazugelernt und super Video Vorstellung danke schön 🙂👉👍✈️🌧️🌩️⛈️⚡

[@LexCreationsPhilippines]

Well done, you’re a life saver😂😂

[@sasasimic75]

Very nice, and great examples. :)

[@yams900]

Excellent! Clear as mud :)

[@rackum44]

Is there a way to use the DME to find out how far you are from the airport and when to know when to start descending?

[@jasonhawkins5227]

Thanks for posting!

[@Rombbb]

Great vid !

[@musman2379]

Can you please explain how to intercept NDB inbound and outbound, also how to fly NDB approach? Thanks!

[@berkandemir52]

Very well explained ❤

[@PissedOffBanker]

Thanks for the great tutorial! Just a question, not all airports have NDBs right? Are NDBs throughout different parts of the CTR zone or are they just airports? And how would you notify ATC that you're flying towards an NDB?

[@Doofer911]

+Doing Business With The Chinese Nope, most medium to large airports will have NDB's but smaller ones may not have one. As far as I know NDB's can be used in the CTR zone. I think I read somewhere that they used to be used as fixes for ILS approaches but now that's being phased out in favour of using DME. As for speaking to ATC, you would probably say something like "Flying inbound to the XYZ NDB", that's just a guess though.

[@ford8717]

Awesome vid thanks allot man you really got me ready

[@thedaddechannel]

The only improvement I can think of is homework assignments. I watch these, then I go off to FSX and SkyVector and not sure what to set up. It just seems to take a bit I guess ADD...oh look, a racetrack or is that a stadium? I need word problem real world challenge examples. And yes, I'll never be flying a real plane so don't worry.

[@jJustPlayingNZ]

I love this thanks. Have just subscribed will look at your others. One question off topic, what plane are you flying and how did you get rid of the Yoke?

[@jJustPlayingNZ]

@@DarinMikesell Thanks for replying. I will look into it.

[@jJustPlayingNZ]

@@DarinMikesell WOW I checked that Cessna out. Amazing. Maybe an overkill for me at this stage. Only been using flight sims for a couple of months.

[@bshilkitus]

I love your videos. Could you please give some recommendations regarding hardware? Or just tell us what you are using?

[@Doofer911]

Sure, I personally use a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro joystick for flying. As a beginner to flight sim, a joystick is all you need really. As you become more experienced, you might benefit from upgrading to a HOTAS controller (Hands On Throttle And Stick) or a Yoke and Rudder Pedal set. I know that Saitek do both types of controllers so you can check them out for ideas :) There are other companies who offer much more professionally styled and built controllers which are replicas of real aircraft controls but Saitek have more "entry level" controllers.

[@SquawkVFR1981]

Perfect to use for my PPL :)

[@Doofer911]

Juul Dum I'm honoured you consider it good enough to use to learn for a PPL! :D that said, I'm not a real pilot so if you talk about the ADF with your Instructor, trust what he says over what I say! lol

[@vannamle7544]

Hi.Thanks for this video. How can we know how far from NDB to airplan? with VOR we can know this distant. but with NDB how can? Thanks.

[@milanlauro87]

thanks a lot, perfectly explained.

[@Doofer911]

Milan Lauro You're welcome :)

[@GraemeBNash]

Great stuff

[@Lexandmax81]

AWESOME!!!

[@kaiyuliu2867]

great video!!! I love it!!

[@Doofer911]

I'm glad! Thanks very much for watching :)

[@Ro9eR]

Excelent tutorial 👍

[@lajiyoujian447]

I LOVE IT!

[@PeterMatthess]

great stuff!

[@Doofer911]

Peter Matthess Thank you :D

[@mohanadhaidarah]

Very nice explain

[@hmabboud]

Thanks for the vidoe! @11:16 But how do you know that 090 is the right heading you need? When you are inside the cockpit, you have no idea where you are.

[@stardust6773]

Very good, subscribed!

[@Doofer911]

Welcome to the channel :)

[@patrickmccarty5436]

Why does small ga aircraft. Not have a rudder trim ??? And would that correct drift

[@leopard6554]

Thanks for the video sir. Would you tell us how to add wind in the fsx?

[@Doofer911]

Weather Settings > User Defined Weather.

[@gerritdutch1869]

Hi Great vid mate,Im having trouble with the century 111 autopilot,could you do a vid on that,Please..Cheers,

[@Doofer911]

+Gerrit Dutch I'm afraid I don't have a plane with that system on it :(

[@ahmedrashed78]

excellent

[@victoriamorozova9517]

Thank you very much

[@Doofer911]

You are welcome

[@Masterr-K]

Good video but it would've been nice if you said in the video that the HDG on the autopilot needs to also be activated for the plane to turn when setting the heading.

[@frunomaol5069]

I think you answered my question. I didn't know if the aircraft was being turned by use of the stick or automatically in response to heading bug changes. I think the latter.

[@BrooksIngersoll]

Great job. You explained in a way that even I could understand. :-) You make learning FSX easy. Thanks. I haven't as of yet checked out all of your vids but I have a question. Have you done any vids on Holding Patterns? Thanks again.

[@Doofer911]

+Brooks Ingersoll Hi Brooks, glad you're liking the videos! I've not done anything on Holding Patterns yet but it's been mentioned a few times so I think I will do a video on them. Can't say when yet at the moment but I'll definitely add it to the To-Do list!

[@BrooksIngersoll]

Doofer911 Thanks for answering back. I had another question if you don't mind? This may sound silly but what if I was abducted by aliens and dropped out of the sky over Virginia,USA. is there a way to figure out where I am and find an airport to land at?

[@Doofer911]

+Brooks Ingersoll Oh great, I'm glad I'm not the only one who's wondered about this situation occurring! haha, Well I'd start by asking them to take you straight home first, if they've abducted you and taken up your time it's only common courtesy. But failing that... Best case scenario, they drop you off during the day and in good weather. Then you can simply fly VFR and land at an airport, then talk to someone on the ground, figure out where exactly you are and go from there. Next possibility, it's nighttime and bad weather, if you've got a GPS then that should pinpoint your location and you can navigate to an airport using that. Worst case scenario, night time and bad weather, no GPS, you would probably need to flick through the Nav radio frequencies and try and find a NDB/VOR station which is sending out a morse code identifier. Then identify which letters it's sending, and hopefully you'll have a book or some maps with you with a lot of Navaid information for that area on it. Figure out which station you've tuned to, fly to it and then work out where to go from there. That's just an educated guess as to what someone could do if they were completely lost and disorientated. I'm not a real pilot so I haven't got a clue. Just thinking, you could probably set your radio Transponder to an emergency code and tune into an emergency radio frequency, hopefully the Airforce or someone would come and find you in that instance.

[@BrooksIngersoll]

+Doofer911 Thanks again. Hopefully I won't be abducted by aliens but if so I hope I have a GPS. Really though it didn't occur to me that the transponder codes or mores codes were letters or numbers(duh). If nothing else follow the ADF and that should get me close to something. Then triangulate maybe VOR's.

[@mrthomaslaux1]

Whats the max range of these ndb signals?

[@kangmana09]

Not sure if anyone already said this but NDBs become inaccurate during night time. I know its a sim so it most likely doesn't matter but just thought I would let people know.

[@beppyboo]

Why do they become inaccurate at night? Around what time?

[@hrthrhs]

@@beppyboo - It's due to the ionosphere. As there's less solar activity interacting with the atmosphere at night, this causes the ionosphere to thin, so the base of the ionosphere rises. A lower/thinker ionosphere is better as it helps to reflect the NDB's radiowaves back down through the atmosphere 🙃

[@hellosiri1483]

hrthrhs hey mate i think you studied radio navigation a lot. By the way thanks for explaining

[@dchanson55]

Where do you find NBD frequencies in FSX?

[@telosfd]

That i iam looking at the coordination plan seems like the 060 is beetwen 270 and 360. Am i right? Nice tutorial.

[@Doofer911]

+telosfd Yep, 060 is the MAGNETIC Bearing from the plane. What you can see on the plane is the RELATIVE Bearing....so that's the bearing which with the plane's Heading as the focus point. So in that example, the plane is facing East (090). That means.. Relative - Magnetic 000/360 - 090 090 - 180 180 - 270 270 - 000/360 The 060 is the MAGNETIC Bearing, so that's the bearing with MAGNETIC North as the main focus.

[@terrylay]

Well done

[@Doofer911]

Thanks for watching :)

[@soulnickos2245]

I think ADF is helpful only in windy conditions because in night or low visibility you could use VOR navigation

[@spiro5327]

Hey Doofer how are you ? Just found out that most NDB'S where i come from have been decomissioned so i guess its the end of an era. Also ADSB is now mandatory for IFR. Have been watching your videos, keep up the good work.

[@Doofer911]

+silo granz Yeah it's an additional layer of tracking to compliment radar tracking. Radar has a limited range and ADSB being a satellite tracking technology ensures that an aircraft's location is always known.

[@supertminecraft8675]

5:28 I was looking at the transponder xD

[@jaydencadavona131]

Thanks man!

[@Doofer911]

You're welcome :)

[@3ZzOoOZz1]

whats the maximum distance from which an NDB is detectable for the aircraft?

[@Doofer911]

Don't k now what it is in the sim but in real life, it's really dependant on how much power is being put into the NDB. Normally, it's anything between 40nm - 100nm.

[@PrivateColt]

I see a problem there. See you going to the airport which has NDB, DME and VOR. Question is: how you navigate to an airport which has no NDB, DME and VOR in similar conditions also how you will know the distance to the airport when you are flying your Cessna?

[@OriginalAtomicSheep]

I'm confused, if you're flying 090 and the ADF arrow is pointing to the left (irrespective of what the card says), you just turn the plane until it's pointing directly up and you don't need to do any maths at all, and whatever heading you get... you get. Why all this complexity of doing maths or indeed even moving the card of the ADF? Just turn the plane and be happy. Comments? The rest of the video makes sense and I learned something new, thanks for that.

[@manikrn007]

Atomic_Sheep its meant to correct the wind drifting the plane off course. You wont have continously manually adjust the heading and you will get a straighter course. I used to do ot the way you described. But this despite being a bit confusing (especially heading correction should equal adf bearing part) , makes sense. Did you get a chance to try this? It will be a while before i will be trying this. He makes it look easy I think.

[@billymkirkwood4956]

you have to take onboard wind drift correction factors

[@DfineX]

i have a question here.. how far until we can capture NDB/VOR? sometime i didnt capture it and ended up ditching the plane into the ocean, i use 737-200 at dat time, RIP to all my passenger...

[@Doofer911]

Ouch! It depends but normally VORs have a range of about 200 miles.

[@BADKALOS]

You have done a mistake in 3:27 you rotated the compass 90 degrees to the right.Awesome toturial btw.

[@treborhg_9381]

how close do you have to be to the vor and adf to get a signal?

[@billymkirkwood4956]

a vor signal can be picked up from 25nm at very low altitude to 40nm low to mid alt and 100 nm at high alt

[@masoodbm]

How can I find a ADF frequency. Do all airports have ADF? Thank you

[@Doofer911]

Usually the Map in FSX will have navaid information on it. Just find the airport and double click on it to see the different navaids available.

[@RAMvp]

How do you zoom into the cockpit panel like that?

[@Doofer911]

Hold Spacebar and roll the mouse wheel

[@lbukow]

Why there is no horizontal trimming possibility like it is in vertical / elevation ? Or maybe it is? My knowledge base only on Your movies. It would be much simplier to compensate the wind and it will work also in the situation when we wish to point any type of destination, not the radio station, so we will use only main heading instrument. For example we know we wish to fly to 060, but wind pushes us left. We trimm the plane horizontally and keeps the 060 direction. Possible?

[@Doofer911]

Larger planes do trim however small planes like this Cessna only have Elevator Trim, no Aileron or Rudder trim.

[@miragercm2]

6:50 I still don’t understand why in all the examples you do not turn directly to E. You’ve already said yourself that you need to align the yellow arrow on E, then subtract and add something and get a course where to fly to NDB but you do it differently. I didn't get it

[@aarongorton1984]

trying adf with active sky impossible with the turbelence and winds just press map muich easier

[@mallekgarson9127]

I thought " Just Now" only referred to the near future in South Africa and refers to the immediate past everywhere else on the planet