[Milsurplus] Interesting findings on post-WWII aircraft VHF (Long)

[Ray, W2EC]

Hi Todd,

It's not lack of familiarity with VHF as a radio frequency for
communications, but lack of familiarity of the VHF navigation system.
This system, called VHF Omni Range, (VOR for short), was brand new in
1947, that was the first year of formal implementation and there weren't
that many navaids around for pilots to get familiar with. It's no wonder
very few pilots were knowledgable (or trusted it) at that time. They had
been using the four course system since the late 20's and knew how to
use that method, many did not want to try "the new kid on the block"
until it had been really wrung out and proved. It wasn't until the
1950's that these four course systems were started to be phased out, and
the last one was phased out in 1974!

That reluctance to change still holds true today, many of us who don't
fly the glass cockpits of today's airliners daily are still afraid to
try "new technology". I fly IFR using VORs and ILS (Instrument Landing
System) approaches today and use them for primary awareness even though
the plane I'm flying has an IFR approved GPS that gives me a moving map.
But I don't trust GPS enough yet to rely on it as my only source of
navigation. I keep an eye on it and cross check the VOR/ILS to the GPS
but if they didn't agree, I'd rely on the VOR/ILS first, I know how to
fly that. I expect the pilot in the scenario mentioned did the same
thing. He'd been flying "the beam" for so many years and didn't want to
trust that "new VOR thingy", and indeed it was so new he may not have
been even aware of it, as was pointed out.

Heck, I hated the M-14 when they made me turn in my M-1 (although I did
adapt to the M-14 very quickly and love it beter than the M-1 now). As
for the switch from the M-14 to the M16, hated that Mickey Mouse piece
of ---- then, hate it now. You use what you are used to and get
reluctant to change.

73, Ray  W2EC  





Todd Bigelow - PS wrote:
> 
> ....wow! Of course, it doesn't state what this 'spot check' consisted
> of, what kind of sampling or how widespread, but it would seem that
> pilots weren't as familiar with VHF as we'd perhaps think? This was > late 1947, too.
> 
> de Todd/'Boomer'  KA1KAQ
> 
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