True Meaning Of VOR

My dad always refered to VOR's as "Omni's". He started flying in the early
40's (See http://users.erols.com/viewptmd/Dad.html) and I can remember how
impressed he was with the first "Omni" he had installed in one of his planes
in the 60's. A major advance as far as he was concerned.

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)


"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote in message
nk.net...

wrote in message
oups.com...

I am an aspiring flight student. I'd like my first message to this
group to be one with foot in mouth:

I am not convinced that the term VOR stands for "Very high frequenncy
omnidirectional range."

The problem is that, if I were an electrical engineer designing such a
device, knowing in advance how it worked, I'd be highly inclinded to
call it a "Very high frequency ominidirectional radiator" given that it
radiates in all directions using the VHF band.

Yet both the chapters by Rod Machado that comes with Micrsoft Flight
Simulator and the handbooks from the FAA say that it stands for
"...ominidirectional range", so I might be barking up a tall tree here,
but just a thought.

Is there anyone here whose experience in flight precede the advent of
VOR that could say what it stands for?


The R means Range and always has. The predecessor to VOR was simply
called
the "Radio range" and was so designated on aeronautical charts. In 1948
VORs began appearing on the charts but they weren't then designated VORs,
they were designated "Omni-directional range". The information boxes for
specific ranges were identical except "OMNI" appeared above the box of a
VOR.

I thought it was "Visual Omni Range", meaning multi-directional and you got
to see the display as opposed to the aural radio ranges.
wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi,

I am an aspiring flight student. I'd like my first message to this
group to be one with foot in mouth:

I am not convinced that the term VOR stands for "Very high frequenncy
omnidirectional range."

The problem is that, if I were an electrical engineer designing such a
device, knowing in advance how it worked, I'd be highly inclinded to
call it a "Very high frequency ominidirectional radiator" given that it
radiates in all directions using the VHF band.

Yet both the chapters by Rod Machado that comes with Micrsoft Flight
Simulator and the handbooks from the FAA say that it stands for
"...ominidirectional range", so I might be barking up a tall tree here,
but just a thought.

Is there anyone here whose experience in flight precede the advent of
VOR that could say what it stands for?

Thanks,

-Chaud Lapin-

"Franklin Newton" wrote in message
ink.net...
I thought it was "Visual Omni Range", meaning multi-directional and you
got
to see the display as opposed to the aural radio ranges.

Huh? Maybe you are thinking of DME.

"Franklin Newton" wrote
I thought it was "Visual Omni Range", meaning multi-directional and
you got to see the display as opposed to the aural radio ranges.

Ah-ha...somebody else as old as I am. :-) That's how I first
heard it way back in the early fifties. By the late fifties,
we had VORs in our Navy aircraft, but the emphasis on my final
instrument check-ride was still on the "aural" A-N Range for
both enroute navigation and approaches. How pleasant to get to
the first fleet squadron to find that it was all VOR/ADF/GCA
flying.

Bob Moore