thecorporatepilotdad, a real world corporate pilot, explains how to use an ADF or Automatic Direction Finder to track to and from an NDB or Non-Directional Beacon in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020. NDBs are one of the oldest navigation systems still in current usage and knowing how to use them is still a basic skill expected of instrument rated pilots. The Carenado PA-44 is used in this demonstration, but the Cessna 172 (steam gauge version) and 152 use the same ADF.

An NDB is simply a radio transmitter at a known location. It does not transmit any navigation information other than its identifier, usually in Morse code. AM broadcast stations can also be used for navigation purposes and most ADF receivers can cover the range of the AM broadcast band in addition to the dedicated NDB band just below it.

Though low in power, NDBs can often be received at a greater distance than VORs and at lower altitudes. They are however affected by things like atmospheric conditions, mountains, electrical storms, etc.

thecorporatepilotdad

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About The Author

This video is produced by thecorporatepilotdad. He has been a FlightSim.Com member for close to twenty years and using Flight Simulator since back in the day of FS98 and FS2000. He is also a professional pilot with over 8000 hours of real world flight experience ranging from Cessna 152s to super-mid size business jets.

About NDBs

Learn more about non-directional beacons from this Wikipedia article:

Non-Directional Beacon