Is it possible to use GPS instead of VOR/DME?

Question

Isn't the GPS much more efficient and accurate?! Do you think it will replace VOR/DME someday?

Answer 1

Contrary to above answers you know what a VOR/DME is, so I'm not going to suggest flying lessons since you obviously know your way around avionics.

I think if VORTACS / VOR DME is replaced it wont be for a good many years. We still have NBD approaches after all which can be flown by GPS overlays, but we still maintain them as well as LORAN chains. You know I'm sure that the key thing in aviation is redundancy. Dual mags, steam guages backing up EFD's ect. NBD's and LORAN will go long before VOR / DME. Simple answer, yes in can be used in place for enroute consideration, but I haven't heard of a GPS overlay VOR DME approach.

The economics will probably also play an issue. For example I can buy a LORAN unit and have it installed for probably one tenth the cost of a used IRF certified GPS and still have R-NAV capability.

Another reason I think you'll be seeing VOR DME in your golden years is from the aspect of an air traffic controller. If ATC loses radar, the whole system reverts to victor airways ( and J airways). If you lack a VOR at minimum and want to go in the soup to a sector that is temporarily without radar, you won't get anywhere. You either say for IFR traffic it is GPS or bust ( and provide some sort of backup nav aid other than GPS) or you continue the VOR system (meaning the extra cash to maintain the DME portion wouldn't be much more).

Someday GPS will replace VOR DME and yes it is more efficient and accurate. It won't be replacing it in the next 40 or so years I don't think. When I got my instrument ticket NDB technology was probably 70 years old, but I had to shoot one for the DE. VORTACS came about in the 50's and I wouldn't be supprised if people are complaining in 2020 about having to shoot a low tech VOR DME approach wondering when technology X will finally relegate GPS to the dust bin of progress.

Answer 2

It depends what you are doing. GPS has a lot more range because it is way up there and yes it is accurate. When you are using GPS to navigate by you are using several satellites at a time not just one. VOR is line of site. The lower you are in altitude the shorter the distance for VOR receivers. I personally use both when i fly. Navigating using VOR's is going to be around for a long time. There are a lot of planes flying that don't have GPS. Some Instrument approaches are VOR only and some instrument approaches are GPS. There are a lot of different types of approaches. Go to a small local airport that has a flight instructor and take flying lessons, you will love it.

Answer 3

GPS are used in aviation and is more accurate than the VOR & NDB although there is a requirement to have a back up system of VOR/NDB system if you don't have a a GPS system that is certified error free. The GPS systems that are error free are being used for sole means of navigation by major airlines or anyone who has a lot of money to spare.

GPS will be eventually be the sole means for navigation for everyone but like anything the VOR/NDB has been proven accurate over time and the aviation regulators are cautious of saying that GPS is all you need. They don't want to be responcible for the first mid-air crash caused by GPS!

Answer 4

The short answer is no. GPS is an American made system (initially for military use, I believe, and the commercial benefit was overwhelming, hence it became available to the public with a restricted accuracy capability) that the world has access to as it is broadcast globally. The receiver units the Iranians use are the same ones the rest of the world uses. If the US had the ability to skew GPS readings in the waters off Iran, everyone in the area would receive the same "skew" and everyone's readings would be off. There was either a mistake made in estimating location, the boundaries were arbitrarily shifted that day (probably the case), or someone is flat out lying. This is not equipment related. It's a human cause, either accidental or intentional. It seems to be well known that the water boundaries in that area shift at the whim of the countries involved (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, others?) Ask yourself this- If I were to choose an ally in this matter, would it be Iran, who has a proven history of lying, or Great Britain, who has a proven history of truthfulness and honor (at least in recent history), and in particular, is a proven partner of the US in the battle against terror? I would call an incarcerated British criminal my friend before I would an Iranian gov't official. Don't be swayed by the tainted "reporting" by our media, don't believe any of the British soldier confessions (they are all coerced), and don't believe for a second, that Muslim radicals wouldn't kill you in a split second. Trust me, they aren't sitting around pondering our deaths; they dream about it, long for it, obsess over it. The majority of us Americans, and most free thinking, prosperous people, cannot fathom the commitment of these people who are brainwashed from birth and lied to about the world such that they are incurable. They are a scourge and we need to stop entertaining "what if" kinds of debate that gives them a moment's consideration.

Answer 5

Yes , GPS will one day replace VOR approaches as VOR stations are older and more expensive to maintain and will be phased out

Answer 6

The present state of the airline industry with 30.9 % canceled flights at major U.S. airports in June and lousy on-time records has led a lot of people in the industry to call to the FAA to begin an effort to switch to a GPS system for ground handling as a means to speed up take offs and landings and relieve runway congestion.
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....* Congress may be flyers' last hope. An estimated $22 billion proposal to replace the radar system with satellite communication counld find more direct routes."
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Answer 7

gps has come a long way but wont be replacing the old reliable vor/dme any time soon. they will be used in conjunction with one another for a long time. just like the old ndb. still being used on ils approaches. almost irreplaceable.

Answer 8

I agree with Kevin, why have such a great tool that gives you such accurate and useful information and redundancy if your going to cut out the primary systems? GPS is state of the art technology and simply amazing with all the available linked information it offers but it will be a hard long sale before the FAA will buy off on decommissioning the national air traffic system as we know it.

Answer 9

Yes. There is research going on right now to have aircraft pass their current 3D route to other aicraft in the area so that they can cooperate to deconflict themselves. This would allow free routing without having to worry about collision. They have been flying trials of the system for years. There are already GPS approaches.

Answer 10

We never tune vors to navigate the airways anymore.