writes:

Actually Victor airways were developed to separate the bug smashers from
everyone else and to keep them from controlled airspace.

I'm not sure what you are saying. The Victor airways provide safe IFR routing
below 18,000 feet and are always controlled airspace. Each airway extends from
the base of controlled airspace up to 18,000. Of course, they can also be used
for VFR. So I don't quite see how they separate bug smashers from everyone
else.

There is nothing intrinsic about them that provides "guaranteed navigation
performance and safety" other than the accuracy of VOR's and with the
invention of GPS they are becoming obsolete.

The guarantees concern obstacle clearance and navaid reception. The VORs that
define the airways can be reasonably expected to remain in range throughout
the airways, whereas when cooking up one's own route via ground navaids, one
must take into account the service volume of the stations. Additionally, the
airways are guaranteed to be free of obstacles throughout their width above a
certain published altitude, and the navaids are guaranteed to be within range
beyond a certain altitude as well (which may be higher than the obstacle
clearance altitude).

Thus, the airways provide more than just VOR navigation--they also provide
obstacle clearance, and that remains true whether you are flying VFR or IFR,
with VORs or GPS. The government goes to a great deal of trouble to provide
obstacle clearance and reception range on published airways; it isn't simply
drawing lines on a chart between VORs and proclaiming them airways.

Finally, VORs are hardly becoming obsolete, no matter what fantasies the FAA
might entertain. The President has already destroyed one safety backup by
shutting down LORAN; if the same is done for VORs, there will be no backup at
all for GPS, and that will be a very bad thing, as GPS is trivially easy to
jam and spoof.