When I was doing my ATPL theory course, this was one of the hardest instruments to get my head around. I could not understand the use of it. It seemed over-complex, yet too simple at the same time.<br /> After thinking about it for a few hours, I would get it, then after a day or two, I'd lost it again! Very frustrating. So I had to find a few simple rules that would always work, in all circumstances.<br />

I was always getting confused about how to use the VOR instrument to navigate to a VOR beacon. Centre the needle, then what…? What heading do I fly?<br /> My eureka moment came when I made up this sentence..<br /> <br />

• With the needle centred and the TO indicator showing, turn to the heading shown at the top of the VOR instrument.<br />

<br /> You need to understand (and do) all 4 things in that sentence!<br /> This may seem obvious to the seasoned pilot but for a beginner it's gold! This shows the (not so obvious) link between the VOR and the Direction Indicator.<br /> <br /> Q. What radial are we on?<br /> A. Centre the CDI with the TO indicator showing, current radial (QDR) is on the bottom.<br />

One of the tricky things is knowing which way to make the initial turn to intercept a radial inbound to or outbound from a VOR. This little gem comes from a military pilot.<br /> After a few years, the simplest rules are the ones that stick. And this is the one that has stuck.<br />

• Push the head, pull the tail.

It's almost too simple! But it works. You can apply all the school rules about 30 degrees this, 45 degrees that etc. after you've decided which way to turn!<br /> <br /> As an example, let's assume we are flying North inbound to a VOR beacon, CDI is centred with TO indicator showing (so 360 is QDM at top of the VOR, 180 is QDR at the bottom) and we hear this on the radio: “Intercept radial 220 inbound.”<br /> What does this mean? It means we are being asked to reposition ourselves from the current 180 radial (QDM 360) and to fly along the 220 radial inbound to the VOR (which will mean our new QDM will be 040). Got it so far?<br /> Now to know which way to turn, you can spend 10 minutes thinking about it and possibly still get it wrong or you can apply the rule.<br /> Look at where the head of the CDI is now, it's at 360 and it needs to be on 040. Here comes the rule…<br /> Which side of the needle would you need to be on in order to “push” the head over to 040? The left side! So turn left 30 degrees. Turn to heading 330 and you'll see the head of the needle starting to fall towards 040!<br /> or<br /> once again, same scenario but using the tail.<br /> So, assume we are flying North inbound to a VOR beacon, CDI is centred with TO indicator showing (so 360 is QDM at top of the VOR, 180 is QDR at the bottom) and we hear this on the radio: “Intercept radial 220 inbound.”<br /> Look at where the tail of the CDI is now, it's at 180 and it needs to be on 220. Here comes the rule…<br /> Which side of the needle would you need to be on in order to “pull” the tail over to 220? The left side! - Magic, it still works! So turn left 30 degrees. Turn to heading 330 and you'll see the tail of the needle starting to rise towards 220!<br />