View Full Version : Radio ranges
tmmorris
20th Feb 2005, 13:34
How did the old Radio Range airways beacons work - i.e. what did you hear and what did you do with that information?
Reading Fate is the hunter at the moment and wondering...
Tim
Mike Cross
20th Feb 2005, 14:41
They gave rise to the popular song "Home, Home on the Range"
This (http://www.navfltsm.addr.com/ndb-nav-history.htm)might help.
My understanding is that VOR is short for Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Radio Range, so it never went away, just evolved.
Mike
tmmorris
20th Feb 2005, 15:19
That's great, thanks. I'd noted the reference to the cone of silence and wanted to know more.
And to think we moan about having to use NDBs...
Tim
tmmorris
20th Feb 2005, 19:11
Sorry, followup question...
When did IAPs and instrument approach plates come into being? Is there a source of old ones?
Shame MS didn't include some radio range airways into FS2004 A Century of Flight... anyone tried an NDB approach in a Lockheed Vega? Rather hard work!
Tim
david viewing
21st Feb 2005, 10:31
They gave rise to the popular song "Home, Home on the Range"
That was some prescience, 50 yrs before the first aircraft. Well done, FAA!
Mike Cross
21st Feb 2005, 12:55
Never let the truth get in the way!
MBX35
22nd Feb 2005, 17:44
The radio range was a medium frequency radio aid. The Last one in the UK was at Dunsfold and had eqi signal oriented approximatley east/west and north/south
producing 4 zones which had aural idents of N (-.) A (.-) N (-.) A(.-) At the eqi signal there was a continuous tone. At the overhead or zone of confusion in later years they co located a 75Mhz fan marker. Charts were published showing the location of the N & A zones and orientation of the eqisignal. The trick was with no other aid to help, to identify which zone you were in, find the eqisignal and determine whether you were flying to or from the range then having homed to overhead you could commence a let down. It taught you to fly accurate procedure turns and to rapidly work out wind velocity in the air. I think the Dunsfold range was finally shut down in 1966
Whopity
22nd Feb 2005, 21:29
One of the last ones was at Diabakyr in Turkey, probably as late as 1974.
Tinstaafl
23rd Feb 2005, 00:50
There was also a Visual Aural Range developed. I remember when the Oz rules & regs still included references to them. The VAR had localizer-like L & R indications ie blue & yellow sector at something like VOR precision on one pair of hemispheres & morse 'N' & 'A' for a 90 deg offset other pair of hemispheres.
The combination must have made orientation w.r.t. the 4 courses so much easier than than aural only ranges.