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FAA Releases VOR Decommissioning Policy
The FAA formally published its policy including the criteria for selecting hundreds of VOR navigation aids that will be decommissioned over the next decade. The policy, released today, further outlines the process for decommissioning. The agency has selected 308 VORs to be decommissioned as the agency moves to a satellite-based navigational system (www.ainonline.com) More...
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Do you think that the Federal Government of some other governmental entity could stop or interfere with GPS satellites? Then where are you as you are flying along some dark night high above the clouds.
I most certainly think that they can any time they want to... Dark Nights in the coulds, if you are flying under FMS you will be able to continue for a while. As long as the DME-DME is working you will be ok, Many times they are housed with the VOR's, but I do not think they will be affected. If you loose the GPS part of the FMS, you will get a message stating something similiar to "FMS DR" meaning loss of GPS receiver or singnal. Keep in mind you can still fly and navigate with the DME-DME part that is more accurate than GPS anyway, especially for short distances. If you are in a Now or LOW DME zone like over water, the FMS will continue to navigate using DR Mode. This is one reason that a lot of Long Haul and Heavy A/c that fly over seas uses the IRS or INS, because they do not want to depend on 1 system for navigation.
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I cannot speak for RNAV, but most jet aircraft have what is known as FMS (Flight Management System) which uses a DME Receiver to simultaneous receive up to 5 DME stations to navigate. This system is called DME-DME even though avionics tech are the only ones who use the term. Flight crews usually term it as FMS. DME-DME is accurate down to 6" for real time location as being displayed, where as GPS is only within 6 feet at best and that is with a full set of Satellites. You have to have 2 for a position, 3 for a Fix and the more you have the better the fix.
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Problem is, once the VOR is actually decommissioned, it isn't charted any longer. If it isn't charted, it drops out of databases and is also no longer part of the jet or victor route. It would take a major rule change for the three letter fixes to stay active after the VOR has been stricken for the record. For the record, I'd be all for them making that change, it is MUCH easier as a controller to put those three letter IDs in the computer when I'm handed a lengthy reroute than a bunch of RNAV waypoints. But as I said, those making the rules often have no clue what the practical impact of their policies are.
I'm not lamenting progress, but I can't think it is that horribly expensive to maintain some of the backbone VORs for redundancy's sake, and also so someone that only sporadically files IFR doesn't have to drop 10-15k for an IFR certified GPS.
I'm not lamenting progress, but I can't think it is that horribly expensive to maintain some of the backbone VORs for redundancy's sake, and also so someone that only sporadically files IFR doesn't have to drop 10-15k for an IFR certified GPS.
A while ago (I think about 1 1/2 year ago) the Lake Henry VOR (LHY) was replaced by LAAYK intersection. The airways remained basically unchanged.
Agency has already started converting some of the RNAV STARS to where they don't include any VORs anyway. Ironically there have been a couple of STARS I deal with on a daily basis that have been changed, yet the VOR they used to start from isn't on the list. What is slightly annoying is that instead of sharing the same waypoint that is co-located with said VOR, one of the arrivals has a randomly placed waypoint about five miles away. That has already been causing some confusion amongst the airlines and we've had to deal with all kinds of funky routes requiring additional coordination with adjacent facilities because of where the waypoint is placed. I'm sure if I raise the issue I'll just get told that there is some agency publication that spells out why they have to do it that way, written by a group that has never been behind the controls of an airplane or in front of a radar scope....oh well.
There are a couple of those on both lists that I know have actually been out of service for some time. I guess this is just the formal announcement that they're going to turn them off for good. Then there are another few no-brainers, ones that aren't part of an airway and just serve an airport or two for VOR approaches that nobody uses with any regularity. But a bunch of that list has me scratching my head about what is going to happen when something hits the fan.