Newbie VOR question

On Mon, 04 Apr 2005 02:58:18 GMT, "Bruce W.1" wrote:

I'm not a pilot but I have been reading up on VOR stations. And I'm
looking for practical information.

You can calculate your position by triangulating from two VOR stations.
How many pilots do this? Or do most just fly between omnis? When you
fly cross country do you just fly VOR to VOR, or do you draw a straight
line to your destination and constantly triangulate while enroute to see
if you are on this line?

Is it practical to fly a straight line course? Anybody do this?

GPS has changed things. VFR, before GPS, you'd tend to look out the
window to see where you were, relative to that line you'd drawn on
your chart. Triangulation was mostly for when you'd been daydreaming
and looking out the window wasn't much help because one meandering
river looks like another meandering river.

I should say that I may have been spoiled by doing most of my flying
in the parts of the US West where landmarks are many and conspicuous.
But even on the Great Plains, I think VFR pilots would still plot a
rhumbline course. You'd have to be damned careful about following the
compass, but given that, the first thing you'd do is use landmarks or
the intersection of your course with a few VOR radials and landmarks
to work out your actual drift angle. Then you'd point your nose so as
to cancel out the drift and keep refining that.

I don't know what pilots do on the East Coast. The only time's I've
flown there, I could see for miles. But I hear that's rare.

But generally, making continually sure that what you see out the
window looks like what's on your chart is best. The worst thing, VFR,
is keeping your eyes on those round things on the panel all the time.

Don