ADF's

ADF - Automatic Direction Finder

Used for picking up bearings to NDBs (Non-Directional Beacons).

A useful navigational tool for finding airports, flying an airway and for navigating an approach through clouds to a runway. Almost all aircrafts produced up till modern day times had this Nav aid installed as mandatory equipment. However with today's technology the ADF has become nearly obsolete on all modern aircraft, replaced by the amazing GPS (Global Positioning System). The GPS can do near all the functions of the ADF plus a whack more, and it can do them all ten times more precisely. But back to the ADF's, since most of the aircraft that are flown today (especially the ones in the skies I roam) are installed with the ADF. Luckily the ADF presents one option that the GPS does not, and today we're using it for most of our trip.

Although not the primary purpose of the ADF, but nearly it's most useful asset to an IFR GPS equipped aircraft is it's ability to pick up AM radio stations from hundreds of miles away. This allows the pilots to pass a long quiet trip by with up to the day sport results, maybe even a Riders game, or just turn the dial and pick up the latest news, usually something along the lines of a combine accident involving two fence posts and a scare-a-crow. Of course it also allows you to pick up important aviating info such as the weather in nearly all the towns across whichever province the station is in.

Yah know, like ..

"it's a warm day here in SmallTown although the wind is starting to knock a few of Grannies flower pots off her south porch ledge, and o-yeah as for clouds there's...1, 2, uh, 3, uh...yep I'd say it not be much more than 5 out there. And that there is your on the hour weather report for SmallTown! Now about those Riders..."

Which of course translates into : 18015G20KT P6SM FEW040 20/15 A????(the altimeter is your only guess). So yeah useful info can come from using the ADF as an AM receiver. But I'd have to say the feature I enjoy them most for is when I can find the soft drawl of a lonely country musician, singing his heart out to all the pets on the farm. This and a cup of strong black coffee will really make the time on a long quiet flight pass by in real comfort.

Post Script: The Land of Living Skies is not actually this rudimentary. I have exaggerated it for humor. Although some would argue with me...