| It was an instrument lesson and an actual approach. | | | | up through the seemingly perpetual low stratus more |
| We were flying a Piper Arrow into the Monterey | | | | than a thousand feet above the cloud tops. On that |
| Peninsula Airport just north of the famous Pebble | | | | day, the tops were less than 1,000 MSL. A perfect |
| Beach Country Club. The localizer was out of service. | | | | day for instrument training. |
| The only available approach was the NDB | | | | One fundamental principle of NDB approaches is to fly |
| (non-directional beacon) approach using the outer | | | | the course that takes you from the radio beacon to |
| compass locater nestled up against the outer marker | | | | the missed approach point. The other fundamental |
| on the breakwater where the peninsula met the | | | | principle is that the accuracy is limited by the |
| Pacific. Flying the Monterey Bay coast is one of the | | | | accuracy of your gyrocompass. Any drift or |
| most beautiful sights in aviation. Above the cloud | | | | uncompensated deviation degrades your ability to fly |
| layer the sky is dazzling. Green and brown hills push | | | | an accurate course. |