VOR and reverse sensing

"Peter Duniho" wrote in message
...
"Casey Wilson" wrote in message
...
No, with one exception, it does not tell you your position. That
single
exception is when you overfly the antenna. Then, you may presume the
antenna
is some altitude dependent radius from the nadir. Otherwise, the only
thing
the VOR will tell you is BEARING from the station.

How is that not "position"? Granted, it's not a very accurate description
of one's position, but it certainly describes one's position to an extent.

Given that the word "position" is simply being used to contrast with
heading, course, and other related terms, your objection seems pretty
silly
to me.

Who is being silly? You are relating apples and oranges. Bearing is
related to heading and course, position is related to geographical
coordinates. A single VOR won't tell you squat about geographical
coordinates.
Given that the "standard service volume" (AIM 1-1-8) is at least 40
nautical miles, the definition is not a trivial thing. I have tuned into VOR
stations as much as 85 miles away. So, where am I on that line from the
station.
Let's consider that the acceptable angular error [ FAR 91.171(b)(3) ]
can be plus/minus 6 degrees. I don't have my calculator, but I think the
formula is cosine of the angle times the distance... I'm only guessing, but
I think that at the forty mile limit, the aircraft could be as much as five
to seven miles on either side of the displayed bearing angle. Hmm, let's
see: base times height divided by two [40 miles times 5 miles then divide by
2] gives 100 square miles. Wait, that was only the half-angle -- multiply
by two to cover the other side and we are up to 200 square miles of area
over which the airplane could be flying.
I like using the VOR, I like having two of them in the panel. Hell, I
even like the ADF -- got one of those too. When I triangulate any two of
those, I have a rough idea of my 'position.'