Little Rock VOR relocation

[ad5kl]

The Little Rock VOR is in the process of being moved. It is being moved about 5 miles north of the Arkansas River, so that land can be used for river port industry expansion. I don't know if the 113.9 frequency will change but it will retain the same LIT callsign.

The new VOR is slated to be complete in September 2024.

 

[Echo4Thirty]

Interesting they are going to move the VOR instead of decommissioning it. A lot of VORs around the country are being shut down in favor of GPS navigation.

 

[dispatchgeek]

I feel like there was a shift in the VOR decommissioning mindset. They certainly are still decommissioning some, but I’ve read some articles where the FAA acknowledged that it wasn’t prudent to put all of the air navigation eggs in the GPS basket.

 

[ad5kl]

I agree. It would be foolish to depend on one signal source for navigation. There may be some redundant ones on certain airways, but they should definitely leave VOR in operation.

 

[andy51edge]

I agree. It would be foolish to depend on one signal source for navigation. There may be some redundant ones on certain airways, but they should definitely leave VOR in operation.

The FAA still plans to keep a core backbone of VORs for navigation. However they are still planning to decommission several in non-mountainous terrain. Finally the FAA wants to keep a minimum operational network (VOR MON).

Most (if not all) airline aircraft have Flight Management Systems (FMS). The FMS will poll position information from several sources and even dead recon in case all position data is lost.

The available position sources include GPS (of course), and position triangulation from VORs and distances measuring equipment. This is why at several sites where the FAA is decommissioning VORs they are still leaving the DMEs.

The really cool tech found on almost all Boeing and Airbus aircraft plus a handful of regional jets is the Inertial Reference System (IRS). (sometimes called Inertial Navigation System (INS), or on some newer aircraft GPS, air data, and inertial are combined into a single box called the Air Data Inertial Reference Unit (ADIRU)). This uses very-very-very accurate accelerometers to determine where the aircraft is based off where it isn't. As a pilot, I enter the aircrafts position when we are stationary at the gate, and the IRS senses acceleration and works out velocity and factoring out time, it comes up with a position (this is a bit simplified, more detailed information here)

All this is to say even in areas GPS jamming or in case of the aircraft's GPS unit failing, we can still navigate just fine with or without GPS. The White Sands Missile Test Range frequently uses GPS jamming and passing south of the complex we frequently loose GPS. Despite loosing GPS, my current airliner and previous airliner can navigate just fine enroute.

More info here:
FAA VOR Target Retention List
FAA VOR Target Discontinuance List
FAA VOR MON Video
Can Aircraft NAVIGATE by LASERS?!
Inertial Reference System Rising Laser Gyroscope And IRS Of Aircraft
Image source and a fantastic website

 

[Omega-TI]

Keeping it seems prudent.
First there are many private/small aircraft out there that are equipped to use it and many pilots are not at all interested in upgrading their airframes avionics equipment with $pendy tech for the sake of modernizing for a weekend hobby. Yes, there are cheaper portable units, but that's just more clutter in the cabin.

Second, in today's political climate one never knows what an adversary can or will do in some situations, so a backup? You bet.

 

[andy51edge]

I agree that having a VOR backbone is generally good. The whole point of the VOR MON network is to make sure an acceptable backbone network exists above 5,000' and enough airports have VORs and/or ILS systems below. The whole thing is a contingency.

 

[AM909]

Keeping the same callsign and frequency seems like an un-necessary recipe for confusion if there are still people relying on more manual navigation who might have old data or even paper. Why wouldn't they assign a new call and freq? Is this typical?

 

[ind224]

The US Air Force controls GPS so if it can be hacked or tampered with it will be eventually if not already. A Citabria squawking 1200 does not need a glass panel or even ADSB below 2,500 AGL.
A while back a service tech wanted me to build a GPS "jammer" for his truck. I said no, I work smart not hard and told him to cover the antenna with foil when he wants stealth. Loss of signal, simple as that. I speak to an FAA guy in allocation about airband freq coordination so I will try to find out if the freq is changing.

 

[alcahuete]

Keeping the same callsign and frequency seems like an un-necessary recipe for confusion if there are still people relying on more manual navigation who might have old data or even paper. Why wouldn't they assign a new call and freq? Is this typical?

Why would there be confusion, and why a different identifier and frequency?

 

[KD9KSO]

It's the PIC responsibility to maintain current aeronatical publications.

An out of service navaid will be in the NOTAMs which you are also to be aware of, and, if it is a local navaid to an airport it will probably be broadcast with current ATIS information.