More VOR's are going away

For those trying to decide if they should include a VOR/ILS receiver in their panel, this just in from GAN:
http://generalaviationnews.com/2016...=email&utm_term=0_62525a9780-4ba8fbd5d6-21109

Notice one of the replies...from someone named "Ray." I have not confirmed whether this is true, but it offers a different viewpoint.

"VOR is not going away. They are simply decommissioning beacons that are either not used or rarely used. Most will remain as a backup in case the GPS system goes down."

Bill:

That is about 1/3 of the VORs in the USA. In November 2015, there were 957 FAA VORs and 100 nonfederal VORs in the country.

Looks like the big picture will have 189 airports served by the remaining VORs after all that are planned to be decommissioned are gone according to the link above.

Things are changing but at a very slow pace.

I don't think the sky is really falling - GPS is vulnerable to denial (via technical faults, military testing/training/etc, nefarious actors, etc) and the FAA knows this:

In case of a GPS outage, a VOR-equipped aircraft without DME/DME/IRU would:

• Climb, if necessary, to obtain VOR service with ATC radar assistance if available
  • Coverage at 5,000 AGL in CONUS, in western mountainous area VORs will be retained
  • VORs retained to be no more than 77nm from any point in CONUS
• Proceed direct to VOR and then VOR to VOR through the outage or to an airport served by a retained VOR or ILS will be no more than 100nm away.

Click to expand...

link

I'd also add that the notion of ILSes going away is not quite true. WAAS LPV might result in the discontinuance of CAT I ILS facilities, but it will not affect CAT II/III facilities present at many/most major airports.

The FAA is building a brand new VOR facility to replace the old one on Block Island (RI) as we speak! (Sandy Point VOR Identifier: SEY)
http://www.blockislandtimes.com/article/whats-airport/46850

Interesting to note the FAA's position regarding never being more than 77NM away from a VOR at 5,000. For comparison, Australia has just switched off the majority of their ground-based navaids transitioning instead to a GNSS-based navigation requirement with a small handful of VOR's remaining. Even Sydney International Airport had their VOR turned off - though the map I did up still shows it...

Here is the nation-wide coverage at 5,000!

Not an issue. With a VFR GPS, VOR navigation I can do without, although I do like the DME for Bravo ring skirting. Personally, ILS is what I need to expand my IFR travel options until the experimental TSO'd GPS shows up for about $3k with no subscription fees. In fact, my new GNC255 is due next week, thank you very much.

If they shut down GPS on a crappy IFR day because the alien invaders are using it to destroy humanity, well, I'll have bigger issues to deal with than flying. But if I am flying, I'll just do some Vlad style IFR (I follow roads, rivers, revetments . . . )

GPS interference testing by the Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center is done routinely, causing periodic outages covering a radius of some 400 NM in the western US! Good to have an alternative means of IFR navigation!

One that just ended yesterday (not sure how long the link will remain valid so I'll include an excerpt below):
https://www.faasafety.gov/files/notices/2016/Aug/NAWDC_16-03_GPS_Flight_Advisory.pdf

NOTAM INFO: NAV (NAWDC GPS 16-03) GPS (INCLUDING WAAS, GBAS, AND ADS-B) MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE WITHIN A 396NM RADIUS CENTERED AT 393835N1174702W (MVA 356065) FL400-UNL DECREASING IN AREA WITH A DECREASE IN ALTITUDE DEFINED AS:
341NM RADIUS AT FL250
263NM RADIUS AT 10000FT
264NM RADIUS AT 4000FT AGL
246NM RADIUS AT 50FT AGL

Sort of...

No one can argue the FAA isn't trying to reduce cost by letting VORs decommission at the end of their service life (indeed a lot already are).

There are no current plans for them [all of them] to "go away". I wouldn't trade in the VOR receivers quite yet. They considered multiple systems to implement with their "Minimum Operational Network", including LORAN! Fortunately...their business case analysis leaned towards using VORs instead

Here is a 2012 document from the Feds outlining their idea, lots of pictures.

http://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/flig...ns/12-02-Discon_of_VOR_Srvcs_presentation.pdf

Last week we flew through about 300-400 miles of no GPS reception in West Texas and New Mexico (White Sands). Those sans another means of navigating were relying on vectors from ATC to get through the area. I was considering a GPS only installation in my RV build but decided now to make sure a VOR/ILS capability is available.