Skip to main content

VOR Intersection Navigation Tricks for Instrument Pilots

By
Trick 1: Getting to a VOR intersection
I did some x-plane experimentation today and came up with a technique to get to arbitrary VOR intersection without having to draw anything. Try this exercise in a sim:

Set 2 VOR's for some intersection. Randomize the position and heading of your plane (without looking). Unpause. How long does it take you to figure out how to get to the VOR intersection? (this is exactly what my CFII did to me today over oakland). No cheating with GPS or map.

scenario (this is based off published missed for SCK ILS RWY 29R):
VOR1: OBS 330 CDI left deflected
VOR2: OBS 230 CDI right deflected
DG: shows heading 060 degrees.

Where the hell is the intersection?

Solution:
1. Look at VOR1 and pick the deflected right-angle heading where the CDI is pointing. It's 240 degrees for VOR1 (needle visually points at 240, or if you like math,  330 - 90 is 240).
2. Repeat for VOR2.
VOR1: OBS 330 CDI left deflected <== 240
VOR2: OBS 230 CDI right deflected ==> 320
3. Mentally overlay these two headings on your DG.
4. Start turning towards the closer heading (in this case right turn towards 240).
5. Continue turning 30 degrees past this radial, to 270.
6. Fly until you intercept the radial at an easy 30 degree angle.
7. Turn 60 more degrees to right and fly the radial until you arrive at your intersection.

This technique looks a bit like a hold pattern w/ cross wind correction. The cool thing is, by the time you've run through this exercise (only takes a few seconds) not only are you on perfect intercept course to the intersection, you've also mentally oriented yourself and know exactly where the radials lie relative to you. I'm practicing this in the sim by randomizing my plane's position and quickly turning to intercept the FIX.

I have not seen this technique anywhere, including Peter Dogan's book. If you're thinking "I use GPS", GPS doesn't always work. Still good to practice in sim for a few minutes.

Trick 2: Have I passed the airway?
You're cruising along an airway on VOR1, VOR2 is set to an intersection. You glance down and needle shows slight deflection. Have you passed the intersection or not?

Use the same 90' deflection trick from Part 1 to figure out your direct bearing to VOR 2. Overlay it on your DG. It will either lie directly at 0 degree, or at 180. This tells you if the intersection is in front, or behind you, respectively. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to get anything on EBAY for free (and get away with it)

By
This article explains how to get anything for free on Ebay. This is very simple, proven and guaranteed to work. You can get, for example, an IPhone 4, a 64GB IPad 2, or even a Macbook Pro laptop for free. 1. If the seller does not use delivery confirmation, you already won. Just tell ebay you never received the item. They will always side with you (bhe buyer) and refund your money, including shipping, AT THE SELLER'S EXPENSE. There is nothing the seller can do. Ebay will not investigate further, they close the case.  I have hard numerous reports of this happening.  See this facebook thread  and this article . The buyer now has no item, no money, and in addition he is out the cost of shipping. Totally screwed. 2. If you are dealing with a savvy seller, they will use delivery confirmation. Don't worry, you can still get your item for free. After you receive the item, open a case and claim the item broken. Let's use an IPhone 4 as an example. Open a claim and say the me...
11 comments
Read more

THE COPA CIRRUS SR22 PERFORMANCE REPORT

By
About this report This report was generated from data collected from 160 active COPA SR22 pilots. You can see the original survey here: http://tinyurl.com/sr22cruisesurvey . You can download PDF . Table of Contents What you will get out of this report Who were the pilots behind this survey What aircraft are counted in the survey Actual cruise speed and fuel flow Fuel flow vs TAS for NA lean of peak operations What is the most efficient altitude for NA SR22? Turbo SR22 performance at high and low altitudes Are TKS/FIKI planes slower? What is the fastest NA SR22 by generation? Who gets the best range? Are high hour NA SR22 engines slower and do they burn more fuel? How do LoP vs RoP performance compare? POH vs actual performance for NA Who is the fastest SR22? Conclusion About the author Frequently asked questions What you will get out of this report This report is for SR22 owners and buyers. How your SR22 performs compared to other SR22s How altitude affects perfo...
2 comments
Read more

Why a SR22 leaseback is the worst financial decision an airplane owner can make

By
Airplane leaseback seem like a really good idea - your airplane becomes a business, generates income, which pays for maintenance, insurance, storage, and might even put a few bucks in your pocket. You'll hear this from flight schools, FBOs, airplane brokers and airplane manufacturers. The proposal I received for leaseback on my own plane looked very good, $72,000 income per year! The ugly truth is you leasebacks are a terrible financial decision. You're better off to park your plane in a hangar and not fly it at all. This was the proposal I received: Profit calculation for G2 SR22 in KFRG $300/hr rental rate -20% management fee $60 $240/hr income 300 hrs flown = $72,000 income per year First, there are some baseline increases due to more expensive commercial insurance and higher cost tiedown and required maintenance. These numbers are for an SR22 that was to be based out of KFRG. Annual fixed-cost increases to go to the flight school Flight sch...
3 comments
Read more