PVT PLT OF AN SMA SEL ACFT INADVERTENTLY PENETRATED A RESTR AIRSPACE DUE TO AN INCORRECT ADF MODE SETTING.
Synopsis
PVT PLT OF AN SMA SEL ACFT INADVERTENTLY PENETRATED A RESTR AIRSPACE DUE TO AN INCORRECT ADF MODE SETTING.
Narrative
EVENT HAPPENED ON A FLT FROM BED; MA; TO MTN; MD. I HAD MADE THIS FLT MANY TIMES BEFORE; AND WAS AWARE OF BOTH THE TCA AROUND BALTIMORE; AND THE 2 RESTR AREAS; R4001A (R4001A WAS NOT ACTIVE ON THIS FLT) AND R4001B NE OF MTN. TO AVOID PROBS; I ROUTINELY FLY TO SWANN INTXN ABOUT 10 NM SE OF MTN; ON THE E SIDE OF CHEASAPEAKE BAY. THENCE; TRACK THE LOM (MTN) UNTIL THE ARPT IS IN SIGHT. (THIS IS MY VFR PROC; WHICH I USED TODAY.) AT SWANN; I TUNED THE NDB; AND THE NEEDLE POINTED TO 3 O'CLOCK; SHOWING MTN OFF MY R WING; WHERE IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN. I MADE THE TURN; EXPECTING THE NEEDLE TO MOVE TO 12 O'CLOCK; BUT IT STAYED PUT! I TURNED FURTHER N; AND IT STILL POINTED TO 3 O'CLOCK AND TOLD ME TO FLY E! CONFUSED AT THIS POINT; I FLEW STRAIGHT FOR A FEW MI (HDG N). I THEN CALLED MTN TWR. THEY SOON LOCATED ME INSIDE R4001A; AND ADVISED ME TO CONTACT BALTIMORE APCH; WHO GAVE ME A SOUTHERLY HDG TO EXIT R4001A. THEN; I FOUND IT! THE ADF RECEIVER WAS ON THE 'ANT' POS INSTEAD OF THE 'ADF' POS. IN 'ANT' THE NEEDLE ALWAYS POINTS AT 3 O'CLOCK. I WAS FOOLED BY A STRONG AURAL IDENT; THE APPARENT CORRECT NEEDLE POS WHEN I REACHED SWANN INTXN; AND FAILED TO NOTE THE WRONG SWITCH POS. I SOON HAD THINGS STRAIGHTENED AWAY; CLRED R4001A; AND FOUND MTN WITHOUT FURTHER ASSISTANCE. BOTH MTN TWR AND BALTIMORE APCH STATED THEY WOULDN'T PRESS THE ISSUE; BUT I'M FILING THIS TO ALERT PLTS OF THE IMPORTANCE IN MAINTAINING SITUATIONAL AWARENESS AROUND RESTR AIRSPACE; TCA'S ETC; AND TO CONFIRM CORRECT BEHAVIOR OF INSTS.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.