VOR

Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Range

VOR is the primary navigational aid (NAVAID) used by civil aviation in the National Airspace System (NAS).

The VOR ground station is oriented to magnetic north and transmits azimuth information to the aircraft, providing 360 courses TO or FROM the VOR station. When DME is installed with the VOR, it is referred to as a VOR/DME and provides both azimuth and distance information. When military tactical air navigation (TACAN) equipment is installed with the VOR, it is known as a VORTAC and provides both azimuth and distance information.

The courses oriented FROM the station are called radials.

The VOR information received by an aircraft is not influenced by aircraft attitude or heading. [Figure 7-10]

Radials can be envisioned to be like the spokes of a wheel on which the aircraft is on one specific radial at any time.

For example, aircraft A (heading 180°) is inbound on the 360° radial; after crossing the station, the aircraft is outbound on the 180° radial at A1.

Aircraft B is shown crossing the 225° radial. Similarly, at any point around the station, an aircraft can be located somewhere on a specific VOR radial.

Additionally, a VOR needle on an RMI will always point to the course that will take you to the VOR station where conversely the ADF needle points to the station as a RB from the aircraft.

In the example above, the ADF needle at position A would be pointed straight ahead, at A1 to the aircraft’s 180° position (tail) and at B, to the aircraft’s right

The VOR receiver measures and presents information to indicate bearing TO or FROM the station.

In addition to the navigation signals transmitted by the VOR, a Morse code signal is transmitted concurrently to identify the facility, as well as voice transmissions for communication and relay of weather and other information

VORs are classified according to their operational uses.

The standard VOR facility has a power output of approximately200 watts, with a maximum usable range depending upon the aircraft altitude, class of facility, location of the facility, terrain conditions within the usable area of the facility, and other factors.

Above and beyond certain altitude and distance limits, signal interference from other VOR facilities and a weak signal make it unreliable. Coverage is typically at least40 miles at normal minimum instrument flight rules (IFR) altitudes.

VORs with accuracy problems in parts of their service volume are listed in Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs) and in the Airport/Facility Directory (A/FD) under the name of the NAVAID.

VOR Components

The ground equipment consists of a VOR ground station, which is a small, low building topped with a flat white disc, upon which are located the VOR antennas and a fiberglass cone-shaped tower. [Figure 7-11]

VOR facilities are aurally identified by Morse code, or voice, or both. The VOR can be used for ground-to-air communication without interference with the navigation signal.

VOR facilities operate within the 108.0 to 117.95 MHz frequency band and assignment between 108.0 and 112.0 MHz is in even-tenth increments to preclude any conflict with ILS localizer frequency assignment, which uses the odd tenths in this range.

The airborne equipment includes an antenna, a receiver, and the indicator instrument. The receiver has a frequency knob to select any of the frequencies between 108.0 to 117.95 MHz.

The On/Off/volume control turns on the navigation receiver and controls the audio volume. The volume has no effect on the operation of the receiver. You should listen to the station identifier before relying on the instrument for navigation.

VOR indicator instruments have at least the essential components shown in the instrument illustrated in Figure 7-12.

Omnibearing Selector (OBS)

The desired course is selected by turning the OBS knob until the course is aligned with the course index mark or displayed in the course window.

Course Deviation Indicator (CDI)

The deviation indicator is composed of an instrument face and a needle hinged to move laterally across the instrument face. The needle centers when the aircraft is on the selected radial or its reciprocal. Full needle deflection from the center position to either side of the dial indicates the aircraft is 12° or more off course, assuming normal needle sensitivity. The outer edge of the center circle is 2° off course; with each dot representing an additional 2°.

TO/FROM Indicator

The TO/FROM indicator shows whether the selected course if intercepted and flown will take the aircraft TO or FROM the station. It does not indicate whether the aircraft is heading to or from the station.

Flags or Other Signal Strength Indicators

The device that indicates a usable or an unreliable signal may be an “OFF” flag. It retracts from view when signal strength is sufficient for reliable instrument indications. Alternately, insufficient signal strength may be indicated by a blank or OFF in the TO/FROM window.

The indicator instrument may also be a horizontal situation indicator (HSI) which combines the heading indicator and CDI. [Figure 7-13]

The combination of navigation

information from VOR/Localizer (LOC) or from LORAN or GPS, with aircraft heading information provides a visual picture of the aircraft’s location and direction. This decreases pilot workload especially with tasks such as course intercepts, flying a back-course approach, or holding pattern entry. (See Chapter 3, Flight Instruments, for operational characteristics.) [Figure 7-14]

In Figure 7-12, 360° TO is the course indicated, while in Figure 7-15, 180° TO is the course.

The latter indicates that the aircraft (which may be heading in any direction) is, at this moment, located at any point on the 360° radial (line from the station) except directly over the station or very close to it, as in Figure 7-15. The CDI will deviate from side to side as the aircraft passes over or nearly over the station because of the volume of space above the station where the zone of confusion exists. This zone of confusion is caused by lack of adequate signal directly above the station due to the radiation pattern of the station’s antenna, and because the resultant of the opposing reference and variable signals is small and constantly changing.

The CDI in Figure 7-15 indicates 180°, meaning that the aircraft is on the 180° or the 360° radial of the station. The TO/ FROM indicator resolves the ambiguity. If the TO indicator is showing, then it is 180° TO the station. The FROM indication indicates the radial of the station the aircraft is presently on. Movement of the CDI from center, if it occurs at a relatively constant rate, indicates the aircraft is moving or drifting off the180°/360° line. If the movement is rapid or fluctuating, this is an indication of impending station passage (the aircraft is near the station). To determine the aircraft’s position relative to the station, rotate the OBS until FROM appears in the window, and then center the CDI needle. The index indicates the VOR radial where the aircraft is located. The inbound (to the station) course is the reciprocal of the radial.

If the VOR is set to the reciprocal of the intended course, the CDI will reflect reverse sensing.

To correct for needle deflection, turn away from the needle. To avoid this reverse sensing situation, set the VOR to agree with the intended course.

A single NAVAID will allow a pilot to determine the aircraft’s position relative to a radial. Indications from a second NAVAID are needed in order to narrow the aircraft’s position down to an exact location on this radial.

Tracking TO and FROM the Station

To track to the station, rotate the OBS until TO appears, then center the CDI. Fly the course indicated by the index. If the CDI moves off center to the left, follow the needle by correcting course to the left, beginning with a 20° correction.

When flying the course indicated on the index, a left deflection of the needle indicates a crosswind component from the left. If the amount of correction brings the needle back to center, decrease the left course correction by half. If the CDI moves left or right now, it should do so much more slowly, and smaller heading corrections can be made for the next iteration.

Keeping the CDI centered will take the aircraft to the station. To track to the station, the OBS value at the index is not changed. To home to the station, the CDI needle is periodically centered, and the new course under the index is used for the aircraft heading. Homing will follow a circuitous route to the station, just as with ADF homing.

To track FROM the station on a VOR radial, you should first orient the aircraft’s location with respect to the station and the desired outbound track by centering the CDI needle with a FROM indication. The track is intercepted by either flying over the station or establishing an intercept heading. The magnetic course of the desired radial is entered under the index using the OBS and the intercept heading held until the CDI centers. Then the procedure for tracking to the station is used to fly outbound on the specified radial.

Course Interception

If the desired course is not the one being flown, first orient the aircraft’s position with respect to the VOR station and the course to be flown, and then establish an intercept heading. The following steps may be used to intercept a predetermined course, either inbound or outbound. Steps 1–3 may be omitted when turning directly to intercept the course without initially turning to parallel the desired course.

1. Determine the difference between the radial to be intercepted and the radial on which the aircraft is located (205° – 160° = 045°).

2. Double the difference to determine the interception angle, which will not be less than 20° nor greater than 90° (45° x 2 = 090°). 205° + 090° = 295° for the intercept)

3. Rotate the OBS to the desired radial or inbound course.

4. Turn to the interception heading.

5. Hold this heading constant until the CDI center, which indicates the aircraft is on course. (With practice in judging the varying rates of closure with the course centerline, pilots learn to lead the turn to prevent overshooting the course.)

6. Turn to the MH corresponding to the selected course, and follow tracking procedures inbound or outbound.

Course interception is illustrated in Figure 7-16.

VOR Operational Errors

Typical pilot-induced errors include:

1. Careless tuning and identification of station.

2. Failure to check receiver for accuracy/sensitivity.

3. Turning in the wrong direction during an orientation.

This error is common until visualizing position rather than heading.

4. Failure to check the ambiguity (TO/FROM) indicator,

particularly during course reversals, resulting in reverse sensing and corrections in the wrong direction.

5. Failure to parallel the desired radial on a track interception problem. Without this step, orientation to the desired radial can be confusing. Since pilots think in terms of left and right of course, aligning the aircraft position to the radial/course is essential.

6. Overshooting and undershooting radials on interception problems.

7. Overcontrolling corrections during tracking, especially close to the station.

8. Misinterpretation of station passage. On VOR receivers not equipped with an ON/OFF flag, a voice transmission on the combined communication and navigation radio (NAV/COM) in use for VOR may cause the same TO/FROM fluctuations on the ambiguity meter as shown during station passage. Read the whole receiver—TO/FROM, CDI, and OBS—before you make a decision. Do not utilize a VOR reading observed while transmitting.

9. Chasing the CDI, resulting in homing instead of tracking. Careless heading control and failure to bracket wind corrections make this error common.

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