Mount McQuoid VOR - gone!

[muffman]

Why, oh why have they removed the MQD VOR? :rolleyes:

Phasing out NDBs I can understand. But phasing out VORs, leaving only NDBs behind? Are we really aiming for third world aviation infrastructure?

[PlankBlender]

Are we really aiming for third world aviation infrastructure?

AFAIK, we're already there: No widely available ADS-B for the foreseeable future, GPS based ILS approaches and proper WAAS are years off, reliance on ancient and unreliable ADF technology will continue.. add to that the greedy developer-owned airports and an incompetent ASA management driving services into the ground with vigor, and it's pretty clear that Australia is set to lose any competitive advantage it may have had in terms of location, space, and infrastructure :ugh:

Globally, it doesn't make much difference, as the market is too small to really matter, but it's a shame, really..

[Biggles_in_Oz]

Uhmm muffman, where, or how, did you discover that MQD VOR is gone ?

I just did a quick NAIPS briefing and got The following requested locations have no current NOTAM:
MOUNT MCQUOID (MQD)

[muffman]

The 20 NOV chart updates:

Mount McQuoid VOR deleted (L3, T/SY, VNC03, VT/SY)
Mount Sandon VOR deleted (H1, H3, L3, T/SY, VNC03, VT/TW)
Shellys NDB deleted (L2, T/CB, T/SY, VNC02)

[ksa5223]

I checked online as well but Shellys says it has no notams either and apparently that's gone as well? wtf shouldn't they let the pilots know via notams? :ugh:

[Capt Fathom]

With the advent of GPS, you don't need the MQD VOR to scud-run down the light aircraft lane at night!

:E

[Kickatinalong]

So that's going to leave Bindook & Maitland to teach new pilots near Sydney how to use the bloody things, thank Christ we have GPS's now.:mad::mad:
Kickatinalong

[Dick Smith]

Plankbender, If you are correct about ADSB, why hasn't there been an announcement from Greg Russel or Bruce Byron or even Mike Taylor?

What reason will they give for the failure? No doubt they will blame me!

[Tmbstory]

A pity to see part of the folklore go, some call it progress.

Tmb

[Capt Fathom]

Why don't we have a minutes' silence then for the Holbrook VAR!

[Peter Fanelli]

The 20 NOV chart updates:

Mount McQuoid VOR deleted (L3, T/SY, VNC03, VT/SY)
Mount Sandon VOR deleted (H1, H3, L3, T/SY, VNC03, VT/TW)
Shellys NDB deleted (L2, T/CB, T/SY, VNC02)


Yeah, they used to do that a lot in the DAP updates when an aerodrome beacon broke.
People would go ahead and obliterate it from their copy only to find in the next amendment cycle a need to put it back in the same location after it had been repaired.

[tinpis]

Bye bye McQuoid :(

[sms777]

God bless America and it's satellites! :E

[Philthy]

Why don't we have a minutes' silence then for the Holbrook VAR!

...of beloved memory!

For the youngsters on this forum, you can read about the VAR at Airways Museum / Civil Aviation Historical Society (http://www.airwaysmuseum.com)

[ZEEBEE]

Why don't we have a minutes' silence then for the Holbrook VAR!

I guess mainly because the VAR got superceded by something better like VORs and NDBs.
But to eliminate terrestial based navaids in favour of GPS procedures is inherently dangerous.
Don't get me wrong, I love GPS and use it to much higher accuracies than any terrestial based system can provide, but it does require correct pilot input of waypoints and tracks.
As a good double check when in the soup, it is nice to have a needle that points to a REAL position as opposed to a virtual or calculated one.
As these get scarcer, so does the ability to provide the confidence of cross-checking.
Looks like we're gonna have to start using the AM broadcast stations until they phase those out as well.

[ForkTailedDrKiller]

but it does require correct pilot input of waypoints and tracks

How so? None of mine require me to input waypoints that would correspond to your much lamented NDBs and VORs!

If you lack confidence in your GPS position - get yourself one that indicates your position on a moving map to cross reference with the one you are using for flight plan and primary navigation.

Dr :8

[ZEEBEE]

If you lack confidence in your GPS position - get yourself one that indicates your position on a moving map to cross reference with the one you are using for flight plan and primary navigation.

Dear Dr

As one who works with GPS to centimetric levels every day, I do see some interesting phenomena with GPS that make me just a little wary of trusting them implicitly. Granted, things have improved since I started messing with GPS receivers twenty years ago, but...
Nor do I unconditionally trust terrestial aids either, but to operate without the means to cross-check between two independent references is a gamble that I don't wish to take.

Moving map ? Sure, great thing but it still only represents where the GPS thinks you are.

The tragic Benalla accident and the AirNZ Mt. Erebus disaster should still serve as a warning to those who might wish to only depend on one reference.

Z