ADF Still on the IFR Written?

VWGhiaBob

VWGhiaBob

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VWGhiaBob
According to AOPA (I think?!), the FAA has eliminated ADF from the IFR written. Can I skip ADF? Anyone know for sure?
 
IIRC, the ADF/NDB stuff was only removed from the Private knowledge test. The Instrument and Commercial exams will eventually have them removed...but not yet.
 
Damn.... I figured the A's and N's should still be on it.
 
That's likely before your time, although you may have read about them.
 
I took the IFR written a couple of months ago. No ADF questions for me.
 
NDBs still exist, right? And airplanes still have ADF? Does no one use them anymore?
(disclaimer: new student pilot who initially learned everything about radio navigation from MS Flight Sim starting in the 90s)
 
onezuludelta said:
NDBs still exist, right? And airplanes still have ADF? Does no one use them anymore?
(disclaimer: new student pilot who initially learned everything about radio navigation from MS Flight Sim starting in the 90s)
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I have an ADF, although it isn't working correctly right now. I am trying to get it fixed (or in the alternative, depending on cost to repair, properly deactivated and placarded inop) for my IFR check ride.

There are multiple approaches in my area (including localizer and ILS approaches) that require an ADF.
 
I just took the written a couple weeks ago, there were no NDB questions but they did reuse some of the figures with movable cards. For example, some of the questions were the same but reworded like "In this plane the ADF needle shows the GPS course". I think you'll be fine, but if you're using a test prep product with the old question bank I would not skip the NDB questions. Also make sure you brush up on GPS (types of approaches, IFR/VFR only, WAAS, RAIM, usage during a VOR or ILS approach, etc). There were a lot more GPS questions than I saw in the practice tests.
 
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I know that ADF and RMI were still there when I took the test in 9/2012 - best I can do.
 
They're still in the IR question bank, but whether you get one or not is a matter of chance. With all the new areas on which they've added questions the last five years or so, that chance has gotten smaller, but it's still a possibility.
 
I don't know why they scare people so much. ADF questions are relatively easy.

It's the detailed flight planning ones where the answers differ by three minutes that suck.

Though to be honest, I haven't yet run across one of those in the 2015 question bank (there definitely were several in 2012 when I first considered training for IR).

I didn't find it totally useless, either, as the techniques are rather useful for hunting down ELTs.
 
I agree with MAKG -- if you can remember "MH+RB=MB", you've got all the ADF questions licked. The issues with actually using one in flight to intercept/track a course are not addressed in those questions.
 
Got none a month ago on the IFR.

I'm sure they are still there, but it appears your chances of getting one is very small at this point (I base that on my test and several others on here saying they got none either in the last year).

And if you do get one, that simple formula is all you need.
 
Ron Levy said:
I agree with MAKG -- if you can remember "MH+RB=MB", you've got all the ADF questions licked. The issues with actually using one in flight to intercept/track a course are not addressed in those questions.
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Mary Had + Roast Beef = Mary Barfed
 
I just went through the ADF questions in the Gleim Commercial Course and the problems that gave me trouble had to do with intercept angles for a given MB. Just figuring out the current MB to the station and flying direct was easy.

What was really annoying is that a majority of questions in the navigation section were on ADFs while there were very few on VORs or GPS. Amazing how the FAA focuses on the least used navigation devise.
 
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