VOR use for long flights.

[twinprop]

Awesome site. I have a quick question. How do you use VOR to fly longer flights. Like for a short fligt of only 80nm, i can simply tune into my destinations VOR and fly to my destination using it. But say i wanted to fly a 200 nm or more flight, and i am out of my destinations VOR range? How do i go about getting there. Any instructions would be greatly appreatiated!

PS: This question is being asked assuming that there is no VOR locations between point A and Point B. The only VORs are actually at Point A and B, nothing in between.

[ahramin]

Figure out your magnetic track to go from A to B. Tune and identify the VOR at A. Turn your OBS knob on your VOR to this track. Make sure you get a FROM flag. Track this radial to your half way point (100 nm). Then tune and identify the VOR at B. Turn your OBS knob to center the CDI on a TO flag. Fly this radial all the way to B.

OR

Climb in a square over A until you are high enough to pick up the VOR at B.

[twinprop]

thanks that makes sense. but how do i go about figuring out the magnetic track? explain. thanks again.

[ahramin]

Well with the lattitude and longitude of A and B and a bit of spherical trigonometry you could plug it in and get the answer, but as you will need a map to do the flight anyway we will use the traditional method.

Draw a line on your map from A to B. Find the nearest point beyond 1/4 of the way down your line that intersects a meridian of longitude (the vertical gridlines) and measure the angle between the two lines (in degrees). This is your true track. Now find the nearest isogonal (the not totally straight dashed lines) and read your variation. If the variation is east, subtract this number from your true track to get your magnetic track. If the variation is west, add.

Or if you neither have or need a map because you are playing flight sim, use the flight planner, edit your track to go from VOR A to VOR B, then get the magnetic track from the GPS.

[Pratt]

If you are IFR, there are MEA's(Minimum enroute altitude's) that you should be flying at, that will ensure that you will have adequate reception. If you are not able to maintain the MEA, like going across the rocks, then there is generally an air route(NDB's) that follows the same route.

If the above is not the case, a simplified method of what Ahramin said to do is, you will have been tracking outbound from a VOR for 80 or so miles until you lose reception, just continue to fly the same heading that you had been doing until you pick up the other VOR and track it inbound. Unless you have a GREAT DISTANCE where you are out of reception of the 2 VOR's, this should work fine.

If you do have a large distance out of reception range, you shouldn't be using that as your primary source of navigation in the first place.

[Jet Dog]

...a hand held gps will do, but on pilot salary I know that only paper and used pens are affordable, so the above would work just fine, in VFR tho, in IFR I'd definately have something.


-removed last paragraph as Pratt stole what I wrote..sneaky bugger

[Northern Flyer]

VHF reception distance = 1.23xthe square route of ALT.

[sakism]

Reception distance = 1.23 x square root of height above station.

Not Altitude.

[Northern Flyer]

sakism

Your right, I missed the small print

ALT=Aircraft alt. above station in feet

NF

[Always Moving]

Seems to me that everyone forgotten the goodall dead reckoning I belive it is called(or was called) which is looking at the map and you can use the vor in the long trip for listening to the weather.
Just kidding.
And ahramin if you did not cut and paste.You explain yourself VERY WELL, KUDOS

[ahramin]

Disclaimer:

I am not an instructor.

[twinprop]

thanks for the tips. Seems to work well.