VOR Decommissioning and Training

RyanB

RyanB

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Well, the VOR decommissioning just recently hit GQO and is now DME only. Since a lot of Private and Instrument training focuses on tracking and intercepting radials and such, how does this impact the curriculum going forward?
 
Seems to me that it’s a non-issue. Just last week I had to fly an ODP that required tracking a specific radial on a nearby VOR as you climbed to a specific altitude. I did it with my GPS by putting the VOR in as a fix in the flight plan and putting it into OBS mode and dialing in the radial.
 
RyanB said:
Well, the VOR decommissioning just recently hit GQO and is now DME only. Since a lot of Private and Instrument training focuses on tracking and intercepting radials and such, how does this impact the curriculum going forward?
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This just happened at KAZO as well, it's been reduced to a DME only :(. Used to use it for NAV on every flight there.
I don't think curriculum should/will change just yet, though (maybe that's just my naive hope). VORs are still rather plentiful (even if they are being decommed 1 by 1), still useful to many of us without GPS, and a nice backup option (IMHO) should your RNAV system fail. In fact, I just flew a VOR practice approach last night!
 
ArrowFlyer86 said:
This just happened at KAZO as well, it's been reduced to a DME only :(. Used to use it for NAV on every flight there.
I don't think curriculum should/will change just yet, though (maybe that's just my naive hope). VORs are still rather plentiful (even if they are being decommed 1 by 1), still useful to many of us without GPS, and a nice backup option (IMHO) should your RNAV system fail. In fact, I just flew a VOR practice approach last night!
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Agree that VOR training should remain. But IMHO suggest you seriously consider getting a GPS. The risk of a VOR that you're depending upon being down/malfunctioning is not insignificant.

For me, an acceptable risk (definitely not desirable) is flying without a VOR CDI, but it is a "no go" to fly without a GPS.
 
I wrote to the faa head of ground based navigation asking that vor pxt be restored. It is a key way point to avoid the DC SFRA and the nearby MOAs but no one replied.

I goes I should try to call them next.
 
RyanB said:
Well, the VOR decommissioning just recently hit GQO and is now DME only. Since a lot of Private and Instrument training focuses on tracking and intercepting radials and such, how does this impact the curriculum going forward?
Click to expand...
I’d think that by going into OBS mode, not displaying and using the ‘moving map’ but using the ‘CDI’ thingy in the Navigator, one could demonstrate the ability to see the picture in their head, and demonstrate the ability to use VOR.
 
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OBS mode using a basic indicator ought to to the trick. Now if it's displayed on glass with a magenta line and automatic DME, then it's definitely not really simulating "raw data." I've noticed several decommissioned VORs are still physically extant, but exist in the system only as a five letter identifier approximating their former selves.
 
RyanB said:
Well, the VOR decommissioning just recently hit GQO and is now DME only. Since a lot of Private and Instrument training focuses on tracking and intercepting radials and such, how does this impact the curriculum going forward?
Click to expand...

You can track radials with GPS courses using the OBS mode. Its no different than tracking a VOR radial.
 
sarangan said:
You can track radials with GPS courses using the OBS mode. Its no different than tracking a VOR radial.
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Well, sort of. Yes, the mechanics of tracking the course are the same. But to say it's no different isn't quite accurate.

The GPS course isn't going to be affected by all of the things that make VOR navigation "fun":

Remembering to ID the facility.
Dealing with bends and other VOR inaccuracies.
VOR signal gets narrower closer to the facility.
Cone of confusion.
 
RussR said:
Well, sort of. Yes, the mechanics of tracking the course are the same. But to say it's no different isn't quite accurate.

The GPS course isn't going to be affected by all of the things that make VOR navigation "fun":

Remembering to ID the facility.
Dealing with bends and other VOR inaccuracies.
VOR signal gets narrower closer to the facility.
Cone of confusion.
Click to expand...

Well said. The difference is between the theoretical and real use of the two navigation sources. GPS is nearly always perfect; VOR, only rarely. Lots of subtle nuances to the latter which can only be learned and absorbed by actually using it.
 
Another difference is that using a VOR requires some situational awareness about where you are and where you're going. With GPS, not so much. We may have a new generation of pilots who are "children of the magenta".
 
Kiddo's Driver said:
How about a GIF?
makeagif.com

FURY is the sun coming up? on Make a GIF

_premium
makeagif.com makeagif.com
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That's funny because I've flown with student pilots who asked what direction we were flying on a clear sunny day at 47* N latitude with sun visible in front of us.

"See the sun? We're in the northern hemisphere at mid-day, so that is South."

I guess not everyone was a boy/girl scout or grew up before GPS.
 
tsts4 said:
Seems to me that it’s a non-issue. Just last week I had to fly an ODP that required tracking a specific radial on a nearby VOR as you climbed to a specific altitude. I did it with my GPS by putting the VOR in as a fix in the flight plan and putting it into OBS mode and dialing in the radial.
Click to expand...
The suggestion here is a simple solution and provides the same benefits with regard to radial interception.
 
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