Radial Inbound / Outbound Tracking
Inbound and outbound tracking on a selected course: radial, desired track, heading and CDI together.
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A radial is a magnetic bearing FROM the station. To track R-060 inbound you fly the course 240° TO the station (the reciprocal); to track R-060 outbound you fly 060° FROM it. Pick the radial and the task, press Start task: the aircraft starts on the radial with the OBS set to the course and the heading equal to the course — no wind correction yet.
Steer with ◀ 5° / 5° ▶, the heading ring or the slider; the aircraft turns at standard rate and the wind drifts it. When the needle moves off centre, turn toward it (with the OBS set to your course, the needle shows where the course is); hold an intercept until it centres, then take out half the correction and keep bracketing until the needle stays put — the heading that holds it is your wind correction. The faint white line is the heading, the amber dashes the ground track.
Set the OBS to the radial while you fly inbound and the needle points away from the course — reverse sensing. “Centre (FROM)” turns the OBS until the needle centres with FROM: the index then reads the radial you are on; “Centre (TO)” gives the course to the station. Hide the wind to find the correction from the needle alone; the wind and the correction are revealed when the task ends.
Assumption: an ideal VOR receiver on the IFR Trainer scale (2° per dot, 10° full scale, cone of confusion of 0.3 NM at the station's height); the aircraft at the station's height; a constant wind; standard-rate turns with instantaneous roll; one heading frame (no variation). Station passage is detected when the flag changes from TO to FROM. The score (time within one dot) is a training measure, not an FAA standard.
Receiver: the IFR Trainer’s VOR receiver, unchanged (flag TO when the OBS course leads toward the station, FROM when away; needle = angular error from the OBS course or its reciprocal, + = needle right; TO/FROM changes at exactly 90° from the OBS course, with no neutral band; NAV flag only over the station, where the signal is unreliable) and its HSI (same receiver, heading-driven card). The indication depends only on the OBS and the position (IFH ch. 9: “The VOR does not account for the aircraft heading”). It gives results identical to the IFR Trainer’s VOR and HSI modules.
Task geometry: inbound course = radial + 180 with TO, outbound course = radial with FROM (IFH ch. 9: “The inbound (to the station) course is the reciprocal of the radial”); cross-track error = distance from the straight desired track through the station. Flight: 0.1-s steps, heading toward the command at 3°/s, ground velocity = TAS along the heading + wind (the IFR Trainer’s wind model). The wind correction shown is the wind triangle for the course (the same calculation as the Wind Triangle calculator).
Technique references: IFH ch. 9 “Tracking TO and FROM the Station” (follow the needle with a 20° correction, then halve it), “Course Interception” (intercept angle 20°–90°), and the CDI description (full deflection 12° or more, 2° per dot outside the centre circle). The platform keeps the IFR Trainer’s 10° full scale for consistency with the VOR trainer and says so on the page.
- FAA Instrument Flying Handbook, FAA-H-8083-15B (2012), ch. 9 Navigation Systems — “Function of VOR” (the VOR does not account for heading; inbound course = reciprocal of the radial; reverse sensing when set to the reciprocal), “Tracking TO and FROM the Station” (20° correction, then halve), “Course Interception”, Course Deviation Indicator (2° per dot, full deflection 12° or more), TO/FROM indicator
- FAA Aeronautical Information Manual, para. 1-1-3 VOR (course alignment generally ±1°) (faa.gov HTML, accessed 2026-10-14)
- FAA Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, FAA-H-8083-25C, ch. 16 Navigation — wind correction angle and drift
- Cross-tool: the VOR and HSI receiver of the IFR Trainer’s VOR and HSI modules, unchanged (identical results on 5,000 random cases)
- Garmin G1000 Pilot’s Guide for Cessna Nav III, 190-00498-08 Rev. A (system software 0563.30 or later), pp. 56-68 — the glass HSI option (Indicator: HSI (glass)): heading-up compass card, course pointer with a two-dot deviation scale (full scale as on a mechanical CDI for VOR and LOC), green for VOR / LOC and magenta for GPS, flight-phase and OBS / SUSP annunciations, glideslope / glidepath indicator; an equipment example, not a statement about every glass display