User Guide

Learning To Fly with Rod Machado

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Tutorial 14: Flying a VOR Approach

We talked about using VOR navigation to get around in the air back in Tutorial 9. Well, Grasshopper,

you’re about to get your black belt in VOR, and use it for landing.

Examining your First VOR Approach

Figure 1 is the VOR approach chart for the municipal airport in Santa Monica, California. Look at the

thick black line located in the plan view (position E) running from right to left down toward the

airport. This is the instrument approach course that takes you to the airport (position F). The VOR

station (position G) that provides the navigation signal for the approach is located at the airport.

Here’s how you’d fly this approach.

Let’s assume your airplane is located at DARTS intersection. (An intersection is a point where two

VOR radials cross—this one is at position H in Figure 1.) This intersection shows the beginning of the

VOR approach course. All instrument approach courses are identified by thick black lines in the plan

view section. Notice that the VOR approach course consists of the 212-degree VOR course to the

Santa Monica VOR. Your job is to get on that thick black line and fly the depicted course to the

airport. While you’re tracking this course, you’re also descending to the lowest altitudes shown in the

approach chart’s profile section (position C).

So how do you get onto this approach course in the first place? Either ATC will give you radar vectors

(headings) to intercept the thick black line, or you can fly another VOR course that leads you to it

(more on this later).

Flying the Santa Monica VOR Approach

To fly the 212-degree course to the VOR, you’d tune your navigation receiver to 110.8 MHz (Santa

Monica’s VOR frequency, position I) then set your OBS to 212 degrees. Heading 212 degrees will

align you with the approach course. From here you begin tracking the 212-degree course to the

airport.

The profile section shows that once you’re past DARTS intersection (position J) you can descend to

an altitude of 2,600 feet. Many airplanes have distance measuring equipment (DME). If yours does,

you can obtain a DME reading from the Santa Monica VOR. As you approach the VOR, the DME

counter shows your distance from the VOR decreasing. When the DME shows 6.7 miles, you’re at

BEVEY intersection (position K). Now you can descend to 1,120 feet. What’s the reason for making

descents in steps? You’re kept above the higher obstacles located along the approach course. As you

get closer to the airport the obstacles usually aren’t as tall (apparently, other pilots have already

knocked the bigger ones down). Therefore, you’re progressively lowered on the approach course as

you approach the runway.