Teaching NDB navigation to PPL students

[Dazzler]

The best way to master NDB navigation?

Become a CFII and teach it to others!

Watching your students grasping the concepts of NDB flying will teach you more about it than any chalk-and-talk session!

 

[tgrayson]

over complicate the simple

What could be simpler than turning 30 degrees?

Anyway, my primary objection to the double-the-difference technique is that it seems pedagogically unsound to make the procedure different from intercepting a VOR radial. While you *can* use this for VOR's you first have to find out which radial you're on, perform math to figure out the difference, tune in the correct radial and turn to your intercept.

Too complicated. Tune in the desired radial and turn to it.

I see no reason for the determination of the intercept angle to be different for NDB's, VOR's, GPS's, LOC.

 

[flyguy]

For VFR navigation homing is perfectly acceptable IMHO. Just keep the needle pointed up and you'll get there. Look out the window and don't fly into a mountain and you're golden. You can even home to an AM radio station if you want. Some even put their frequency on sectional charts. Save tracking for the IFR lessons. I was lucky enough to train for my instrument rating in a fleet of 172s equiped with RMIs, so even now as a CFII my NDB tracking skills aren't that great with fixed card ADFs.