VOR's, or Omniranges, are used by pilots to navigate from one location to another. They are radio beacons located roughly within 50 miles of each other all across the United States. Pilots can tune in to these stations.
Each station puts out a signal like spokes on a wheel. Each "spoke" is called a "radial." There are 360 degrees of radials that can be flown to or from a station.
Pilots look at sectional charts to see what VOR's are in the most direct path to their destination. They note the frequency that will need to be tuned in order to receive each VOR. By tuning the frequency of the first station, a direct flight can be made to that station by using the needle or digital display on the receiver. If the needle is used, the pilot just keeps the needle lined up in the middle. If the needle is off to one side, he knows he must alter the plane's path until it is lined up with the station. Digital readouts are more accurate because they display the radial being flown.
Once the plane has reached the first station, the pilot can either fly a radial away from the VOR, or tune the second VOR of the trip if he is in range. Radials can be flown to, or from a VOR. The pilot will know when he is flying over the beacon, because the needle will start moving erratically.
When the first VOR has been flown over, the second one can be tuned. The frequencies are published on the sectional charts. These charts show the frequency and the identification letters of the station. These I.D. letters usually are in Morse code. Some VOR's have a voice I.D. and/or weather announcements.
Once the last VOR has been flown over, the pilot can tune in to the ILS frequency. ILS stands for Instrument Landing System. The ILS is located at the end of the runway of the desination airport, and can be tuned in a manner similar to the VOR. The ILS will guide the pilot to the left or right, until he is lined up directly with the runway. He can keep his descent angle perfectly lined up with a Glide Slope. More about that on the next page.
See what some VOR stations look like:
ARKANSAS:
Hot Springs, AR - Hot HOT
Little Rock, AR - Little Rock LIT
Pine Bluff, AR - Pine Bluff PBF
LOUISIANA:
OKLAHOMA:
Page, OK (better view) - Rich Mountain PGO
Wiley Post, OK - Wiley Post PWA
Oklahoma City, OK - Will Rogers IRW
TEXAS:
Bowie,TX - Bowie UKW (my favorite photo shot)
DFW Airport, TX - Maverick TTT (new DFW VOR - summer 1998)
Sulphur Springs, TX - Sulphur SLR
After viewing, use the BACK button on your browser to come back here.
You are welcome to right-click and save the pictures. If you want to publish
them on a website or use them for something other than personal use, please let me know! All photographs were taken by myself, Lance Sanders. Sorry if some are blurry; I took them from far away so I wouldn't get busted for trespassing on FAA property. That would suck. I used a Magellan Pioneer Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver with coordinates from Jeppesen flight charts to locate & photograph these VOR stations. My e-mail address is back on the welcome
page.
