And another VOR question :). Arcs around VOR's

[GeneticA]

Hi all,

Here is another VOR question.

For some approaches I am required to track a VOR station's 10nm arc.

For this, I adjust the NAV2 radio to the VOR, then try to adjust myself such that the needle will point at a 90 degree angle to my heading and at the same time try to keep my distance to the VOR at 10nm.

This is, of course, not a comfortable way to track it, but it is what I can imagine to do.

Is there a better way? What is the proper way to track a circle around a VOR?

Thanks in advance.

[Nexus]

Hi all,

Here is another VOR question.

For some approaches I am required to track a VOR station's 10nm arc.

For this, I adjust the NAV2 radio to the VOR, then try to adjust myself such that the needle will point at a 90 degree angle to my heading and at the same time try to keep my distance to the VOR at 10nm.

This is, of course, not a comfortable way to track it, but it is what I can imagine to do.

Is there a better way? What is the proper way to track a circle around a VOR?

Thanks in advance.

Executing a DME ARC approach requires lots of practice. But it will help if you do some calculations before, so you have an overview of the procedure. But the way you described it is how pilots actually performs DME ARCs manually (in GA aircrafts)

I'm not sure if this will help you to FLY it better, but hopefully you'll be able to understand it better

What we want to find out is basicly:

A) How many degrees each mile travelled on the arc will cross (from the VOR reference)
B) The distance we're flying on the arc
C) Our Total AirSpeed (TAS), so we can calculate how long we will fly the arc.

And here's the answers:

A) Divide the radius of the arc by 60
So if the Radius was 12, each mile travelled on the arc would mean a 5 degree (60/12=5) deviation from the VOR

B) Now divide the answer above with the number of degrees to travel on the arc ie: 102 degrees/5=20.4nm)
So the distance we travel on the arc is 20.4 miles.

C) the TAS calculation. Add one half of the flightlevel to your IAS. Let's pretend you'll enter the arc at FL100 at 190KIAS = 190+50=240kts TAS or 4nm/min

Now by using the data above, we can determine the distance to travel, how fast we're flying and how long we'll stay on the arc

Distance to travel = 20.4nm
TAS = 4nm/min
Time on the arc= 20.4/4 = 5.1 minutes

Lead-in turn is marked on the approach chart, so I will leave that calculation out for now. Message might become even more dull than it already is...

[GeneticA]

Thanks for the answer.  :)

But the way you described it is how pilots actually performs DME ARCs manually (in GA aircrafts)

Hmm, I think I was a pilot in my previous life  ;D  :P

Then, how it is done with bigger aircraft? (And what does "GA" stands for?)

(Well, not an airliner pilot  ;D)

[Nexus]

[quote]

...Then, how it is done with bigger aircraft? (And what does "GA" stands for?)

(Well, not an airliner pilot

[GeneticA]

You have a different cockpit there. (PMDG I guess). I am 100% sure that this is impossible with the default aircraft.

Thanks for the help.

[Dan]

GA = General Aviation

[Boss_BlueAngels]

Good-Lord that's a lot of calculations! lol