VOR Navigation

History
VORs derived from the old 4-course radio range

from the late 1920s and 1930s

Gained widespread use for navigation in the 1950s
Made instrument navigation commonplace
Remain the basis for most of the worlds air
navigation systems- and will be for 5-10 yrs.

Principles of operation
VORs are commonly described as broadcasting 360

separate radials emanating from the station in all

directions.
How do they really work?
VORs broadcast 2 signals- the reference (or 360-N)
signal and the rotating signal.

Principles of Operation
If the two signals are in phase the aircraft is on the

360 radial, if the receiver detects these signals are

out of phase by then the aircraft is located on the
90 radial from the station and so on.

Principles of operation
Remember the VOR Omni head in the aircraft

only tells the pilot one thing which is?

Where the aircraft is located with respect to the
selected radial- IF interpreted correctly.

No aircraft heading information (unless HIS)

No distance information

Principles of operation
What is the most important initial action when using

a VOR for air navigation?

Tune and IDENTIFY the Station

VOR information
How is a VOR used to Determine which radial an

aircraft is located on?

How is a VOR used to determine a heading to get to
a particular station?
How Can the VOR receiver(s) be used to locate your
relative position if lost?

VOR information
Most pilots are taught to use the VOR as a

command instrument- Which way do I fly?

The VOR receiver was originally designed as a SHIStation Heading Indicator.

SHI Steps:
Tune and identify the station
Put the desired radial at the top of the indicator

and interpret where you are in relation to that

selected course.
Use the CDI (course deviation indicator) and the
TO/FROM flag to divide the VOR into quadrants.
The midpoint of the quadrant containing the CDI
and the TO/FROM flag will give a 45 degree
INBOUND intercept for the selected course.

SHI steps ctn.

The midpoint of the quadrant with the CDI but

opposite the TO/FROM flag will give a 45 degree

OUTBOUND intercept
REMEMBER- if after that you plan to track TO the
station to orient the OMNI Head so that your
aircraft heading and VOR indication are the same
to avoid reverse sensing- Have a TO indication if
going TO the station.

Tracking
All previous principles work well in a no-wind

situation
Wind complicates the process in 3 ways:
The greater the distance from the station the
slower the needle reacts (Fig. 2-11)
The stronger the cross-wind the greater the
correction should be
The faster the aircraft the less the correction
should be- less relative effect on the aircraft

Tracking
2 Basic means of establishing track:
Bracketing and Estimating
Bracketing- logical trial & Error
The speed of needle drift is an indirect indication of

the crosswind strength

Tracking
The 30 degree rule for tracking:
Make a 30 degree initial turn toward the needle

(assuming correct orientation)

When the needle centers- remove of the
correction- 7-8 degrees.
Watch needle
If it drifts back in the direction of the original driftadd the 7-8 removed degrees back in and go 7-8 in
the other direction

Tracking
If the needle drifts the other way take 8 degrees out.
Go through this iteration again using 3-4 degrees

and then again with 1-2 degrees until a workable

heading is found
*Then the wind will change!

Estimating
Estimating is essentially the same as tracking except

you start with a pre-calculated value based on known

wind information.
When using this method begin with 5 degree
changes instead of the 15 degrees used when winds
are not known.- this is generally a quicker method.

VOR testing
How often do VOR receivers have to be tested for

tolerance for VFR flight?

How about for IFR flight?
Every 30 days- with a logbook entry give date,
time/place, name & bearing error.
Many airports have VOT facilties
What are they and how do you know if they have
one?

Testing
What is the allowable error if using a VOT?
+/- 4 degrees
What are the acceptable VOR indications when using

a VOT?
180-TO and 360- From
Some airports have certified VOR checkpoints on the
field- refer to the AFD.

Testing
When using checkpoints what are the allowable

tolerances?
Ground +/- 4 degrees
Flight +/- 6 degrees
You are allowed to make your own checkpoints
If tested against each other 2 receivers must be
within ______ degrees?
4 degrees

Testing
It is recommended that VORs be periodically

calibrated as they may indicate correctly close to the

station yet be out of tolerance when at a greater
distance.

VOR range
The VOR transmission is limited to line of sight and

can be disrupted by terrain- to avoid this stay on

published airways or refer to the AFD
Remember the VOR accuracy is limited to 1 degree
which may add up to a 28 mile discrepancy at 200
miles if the VOR is at the 4 degree max. tolerance.

VOR range
Terminal VOR (T)- from 1,000 ft. to 12,000 ft. out to

25 NM
Low Alt. (L)- from 1,000 ft. to 18,000 ft out to 40
NM
High Alt.(H)- from 1,000 ft. 14,500 out to 40 NM,
from 14,500ft. 60,000 ft. out to 100 NM and from
18,000 ft. - 45,000 ft. out to 130 NM.

The End