VOR or ADF?

[Brute]

I personally can't decided. They both have their pros and cons. ADFs can be offset by a shoreline if they are under the 500khz  frequency or your ADF indicator can point you at a thunderstorm which can be tragic  :(. But when not under these conditions they are VERY accurate. You can even pick up radio stations and listen to music while you fly .

VORs have range , and are good under inclimate weather and give a user friendly course to follow. However, the signal can be distorted by terrain, and unlike AM radio waves (ADF).

But Blah, Blah, Blah what do you think?

[beefhole]

VOR. Always, for me. ADF is actually the equipment used to find the station, known as an NDB (non-directional beacon). With NDBs, it's way to easy to get your position messed up, and only VOR/DME and VORTAC have DME functions-you're gonna need GPS if you want to know your distance from an NDB.

[BiggBaddWolf]

ADF's are the old way of flight navigation, maybe a little better than dead reckoning...VOR's and GPS are more modern ways...I havent followed an NDB with an ADF in ages...........

[beaky]

NDBs are very useful if there's no VOR within range , but they require more skull-work. In RL flying as well as in FS9, I'll use them occasionally on VFR flights as waypoints, sometimes even combining a bearing to an NDB with  a (non-DME) VOR radial to get a fix on my position .They're pretty much only used for listening to the ball game nowadays here in the US, but I believe that there are many airports in the world (esp. in remote areas) that still have NDB-based instrument approaches. But of course VORs make it easier...

[Fozzer]

Personally I love NDB's.... ...!

My local airfield has a NDB beacon. and while I am flying around the County, the comforting yellow arrow in my instrument panel, when tuned in, always points me to the direction "Home"... ...!

The VOR beacons are too far away... ...!

Cheers all... ...!

Paul.

P.S. They might not be very popular nowadays, but I find them friendly and useful... ...!

[Skligmund]

Sorry I haven't read all your replies, but my answer:

Both.

[Nexus]

Sorry I haven't read all your replies, but my answer:

Both.

I agree. I frequently use NDB's when performing sharp LOC intereception turns. Since the NDB often works as an outer marker, it's fairly easy to anticipate the turn towards the runway  :)

[rajiv2]

adf wont bring any good man especially in croswind and besides adf is use only in orld airplanes!!!

[lizardofozz88]

In the sim,
I like using ADF's becuase they are easy to use and easy to program. VOR's for me take longer to program and are less accurate. For me. But I do like both. Talk to me in a few months and i will have real experience while taking my private pilot course.

[Skligmund]

Well, here in Alaska, every aircraft that I've ever flown has had an ADF and a VOR.

[beaky]

adf wont bring any good man especially in croswind and besides adf is use only in orld airplanes!!!

See your point, but  tracking a bearing to an NDB with a crosswind is no harder than tracking a VOR radial with a crosswind, when you get down to it. When it comes to different types of navaids, I say the more the merrier (redundancy can be a lifesaver!).

[MadDriver]

Aren't NDB's getting phased out... except here in Alaska, and some parts of North Carolina?  I might be talking about colored airways, or whatever those are called.

[jordonj]

I've heard NDB's are being phased out as well...

I use VOR, NDB and the GPS...I understand the credo in Real-World piloting is use all that you have available to you.

[beefhole]

Yes, NDBs are indeed being phased out. Can't say I'll miss them, never have used one myself.

[Fozzer]

When I am not quite sure where I am, I love having the  dial in my instrument panel displaying the comforting little yellow arrow pointing me in the right direction... ...!
..and if the DME is working, it will tell me how far I have to go....COOL... ...!



Cheers all...!

Paul....in my "old" Cessna 152... ... ...!