What will you do when that black box fails? I want to be able to use *any*
navigational equipment that happens to be in the plane I'm flying, and
*you'd* better be able to also ('cause I don't want you running into me
while you're trying to remember how it works).

When they disable the VOR network, *then* they should take all the
questions about it off the exams, but not until then.

I didn't say anything about not training pilots to use VORs, nor did I say
to take all VOR questions off the test.

I was referring specifically to the pages and pages (ad nauseum) of study
questions that show you a VOR instrument, totally out of context with
anything else, and ask you to determine where you are in relation to the
transmitter.

First of all, if I'm flying along and the "black box" goes dead, I've been
following my position on my sectional -- so I have a pretty good idea where
I am from the get-go. It's not like I'm going to turn on my VOR with NO
knowledge of where I am. I will know approximately where I am in relation
to the transmitter before I even turn it on (after all -- I will need my
sectional to even determine which VOR frequency to tune in -- duh), and will
thus be able to easily and quickly determine my position from/to it. From
that point on, reading a VOR needle is child's play.

The point is, get stupid "gotcha!" questions like these off the written
test. They are put there to confuse and eliminate candidates, nothing
more, nothing less -- and the knowledge they purport to "test" isn't even
represented well by the questions.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"