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Aviation glossary

VOR

VHF Omnidirectional Range · Also: VHF omnidirectional range, VOR/DME, omni

Airports

Ground-based radio aid transmitting on VHF that lets an aircraft determine which radial, or magnetic bearing from the station, it is on.

What it is

Each VOR station transmits in the 108 to 118 MHz band a signal that allows the onboard receiver to work out its bearing from the station, expressed as one of 360 radials. With a VOR tuned and a radial selected, the needle shows which side of that line the aircraft is on. Many stations are paired with DME, which measures slant distance, and VOR/DME together give a complete position fix.

For decades airways were drawn by joining VOR stations, with pilots flying from one to the next. Today most en-route navigation relies on satellites and area navigation systems, and many countries are thinning out their VOR networks while keeping part of them as a back-up. Range depends on line of sight, increasing the higher the aircraft flies.

Related terms

ILSGround-based radio guidance system that leads an aircraft both laterally and vertically to the runway, allowing landings in very poor visibility. Flight planDetails of a flight filed with air traffic services before departure: aircraft, route, level, speed, estimated times, destination and alternate airports. FIRBlock of airspace of defined dimensions within which flight information and alerting services are provided, under the responsibility of a given state. Air traffic controlThe service that keeps aircraft safely apart and orders traffic on the ground and in the air through clearances and instructions passed by radio. IFR and VFRTwo sets of flight rules: visual flight rules (VFR), under which pilots navigate and avoid traffic by looking outside, and instrument flight rules (IFR), based on instruments and ATC.
Whole glossary

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This page was last updated on October 9, 2026

APA

Vuelopedia. (2026, October 9). VOR. Retrieved October 16, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/vor

MLA

“VOR.” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 9 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/vor. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Vuelopedia. “VOR.” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 9, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/vor.

Harvard

Vuelopedia (2026) VOR. Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/vor (Accessed: 16 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{vuelopedia_en_glossary_vor,
  author       = {{Vuelopedia}},
  title        = {{VOR}},
  publisher    = {Fundación Poderia},
  year         = {2026},
  date         = {2026-10-09},
  url          = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/vor},
  howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/vor}},
  urldate      = {2026-10-16},
  note         = {Accessed 2026-10-16}
}

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/vor |title=VOR |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-09 |access-date=2026-10-16 |language=en}}

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