VOR--Date??

[pmanton]

When did VORs come into use?

I made contact with a chap who trained at the same place I did in the 50s. (Grand Central Air Terminal in Glendale, Calif.) He was kind enough to send me a copy of a Los Angeles local air chart dated about 1950.

There was not a VOR one on the chart--all low frequency radio ranges.

Now I "Think" I remember the Cessna 120-140s at the school having early VOR sets installed. That would be 1953-54.

Were VORs in use during that time frame? Did they spring into use between 1950 when the chart was printed and the mid 50s when I trained?

Maybe it's just my memory fading after all that was a LONG time ago.

Cheers:

Paul
N14312A
2AZ1

 

[ScottM]

What we think of as VOR navigation now saw widespread deployment in the US during the 1950s. The early systems of what would become VOR were developed in WW2 for Allied aircraft. It was called the CONSOL system.

http://www.vectorsite.net/ttwiz_10.html#m1

 

[gismo]

What we think of as VOR navigation now saw widespread deployment in the US during the 1950s. The early systems of what would become VOR were developed in WW2 for Allied aircraft. It was called the CONSOL system.

http://www.vectorsite.net/ttwiz_10.html#m1

AFaIK CONSOL was the name that the British gave to the German radio navigation system "Elektra Sonne" which first employed a means to determine a receiver's radial bearing from the transmitter (similar to the VOR system but much cruder). The story goes that the British relied on the German transmitters to a greater extent than the Germans, even to the point of covertly supplying parts needed to repair one of the transmitters.

 

[Trapper John]

When did VORs come into use?

I made contact with a chap who trained at the same place I did in the 50s. (Grand Central Air Terminal in Glendale, Calif.) He was kind enough to send me a copy of a Los Angeles local air chart dated about 1950.

There was not a VOR one on the chart--all low frequency radio ranges.

Now I "Think" I remember the Cessna 120-140s at the school having early VOR sets installed. That would be 1953-54.

Were VORs in use during that time frame? Did they spring into use between 1950 when the chart was printed and the mid 50s when I trained?

Maybe it's just my memory fading after all that was a LONG time ago.

Cheers:

Paul
N14312A
2AZ1

Sounds like you are pretty close based on this article from Time Magazine in 1956:


One of Washington's bitterest technical squabbles, the long rivalry between aircraft-guidance systems, reached a new phase last week. The Air Coordinating Committee announced a compromise plan that looks like a desperate attempt to offend no one. The plan recommends that both guidance systems, VOR (Very High Frequency Omnirange) and TACAN (Tactical Air Navigation) be "combined" under the hybrid name of VORTAC.


VOR, with "Distance Measuring Equipment" (DME), is the present civilian-guidance system. The Civil Aeronautics Administration has installed 480 of its ground stations, and will install 82 more during the current fiscal year at a cost of $86,000 a station. The stations tell a properly equipped airplane its direction and distance.


Loudest objectors are owners of private aircraft, who feel that the military has loaded them with impossible electronic costs.


http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,808595,00.html

 

[roncachamp]

When did VORs come into use?

I made contact with a chap who trained at the same place I did in the 50s. (Grand Central Air Terminal in Glendale, Calif.) He was kind enough to send me a copy of a Los Angeles local air chart dated about 1950.

There was not a VOR one on the chart--all low frequency radio ranges.

Now I "Think" I remember the Cessna 120-140s at the school having early VOR sets installed. That would be 1953-54.

Were VORs in use during that time frame? Did they spring into use between 1950 when the chart was printed and the mid 50s when I trained?

Maybe it's just my memory fading after all that was a LONG time ago.

The first Victor airway in the US was established in November 1950, I don't know what date the first VOR was commissioned.

 

[Steve]

http://www.faa.gov/about/media/b-chron.pdf

May 1, 1941: After successful tests during the previous year, CAA's first ultra-high-frequency radio range system opened for scheduled airline use on the New York-Chicago airway. The airway was the first link in the eventual conversion of the entire 35,000 miles of Federal airways from intermediate to ultra-high frequencies. U.S. involvement in World War II, however, delayed immediate expansion of the system because the Army took over all available equipment for these frequencies.
In 1944, incorporating wartime radio advances, CAA began testing an improved, static-free, very high frequency omnidirectional radio range (VOR)at its Experimental Station in Indianapolis. Using the new system, a pilot could remain on course by watching a dial on his instrument panel instead of listening to the signal from the four-course aural range. The new range also sent signals in all directions from the station, instead of merely four courses as with the low frequency range.

1947: CAA commissioned the first very high frequency omnidirectional radio ranges (VORs). During 1946, the agency had applied wartime technology on an experimental basis when it converted eight radio range stations on the New York and Chicago airway to VOR omnirange stations (see May 1, 1941). As a result of those tests, CAA adopted the VHF omnirange for standard use and began general installation of the new system in 1947.

Oct 15-21, 1950: During this seven-day period, CAA put into operation the first omnirange (VOR) airways (see Calendar Year 1947). Although 271 omniranges had already been commissioned in different parts of the United States, this marked the initial designation of a chain of these ranges as a controlled airway. The new routes, approximately 4,380 miles long, linked such major terminals as Kansas City, Denver, Albuquerque, El Paso, Omaha, and Oklahoma City. (Jun 1, 1952.) During fiscal year 1951, CAA began enhancing the VOR airways with distance measuring equipment (DME) to assist in low visibility approaches.


http://www.faa.gov/education/educator_resources/curriculum/wright_brothers/media/bharris.pdf

1946 U.S. Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) introduces VHF omni directional radio range (VOR) stations, enabling pilots to stay on course by watching a needle on their instrument panel​

http://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/flight_info/avn/flightinspection/fihistory/

The VOR was under steady development since 1937 and first deemed practical in late 1943. The creation of a rotating radiation pattern transmitted simultaneously with a stable reference signal created an unlimited number of possible courses and made true multi-course VHF navigation a reality. A frequency range of 112 to 118 MHz was set aside for the new navaid. The old four-course radio range was instantly made obsolete with the perfection of the VOR. Widespread installation of the VOR system in the U.S. began after the war and continued into the 1950s. When the first VOR airway was established in 1951, over 271 VOR units had been installed and commissioned. By June 1, 1952 over 45,000 miles of airways utilizing the VOR were in operation.

There appears to be some inconsistency within the FAA...