AIRBORNE LORAN-C IN THE UNITED STATES | ||||
| International Conference on Aerospace Sciences and Aviation Technology | ||||
| Article 42, Volume 2, A.S.A.T. CONFERENCE 21-23 April 1987 , CAIRO, April 1987, Page 1045-1052 PDF (1.79 MB) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/asat.1987.26199 | ||||
 View on SCiNiTO | ||||
| Author | ||||
| Carl E. Faflick | ||||
| PhD., Vice President, Racal Megapulse USA. | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| This paper traces the airborne use of Loran-C in the United States over the last decade. There are now over 40 thousand installations. Early applications were often in helicopters for flying below VOR/DME coverage or in light planes for fish spotting. A flight following service for private helicopter fleets serving the oil industry was installed in the Gulf of Mexico in the late 1970's. At the same time the federal government and the State of Vermont were doing research on area navigation in mountainous area and non-precision approach by Loran-C. The first non-precision approach approved by the FAA was made in November 1985. An airport monitor program has been initiated by the FAA to insure the integrity of the local Loran signals during a non-precision approach. Loran-C manufacturers began specializing their receivers for airborne rather than marine features and began having their sets certified for VFR and IFR use. As costs came down, applications such as crop dusting, forest fire fighting, aerial photography, and search and rescue increased. The increased airborne use of Loran-C promoted changes in the Loran system itself. Pressure from aviators who wished to fly coast to coast resulted in plans to complete the coverage of continental United States by 1989, and to improve the Alaskan coverage. A proposed Loran-C coverage for Egypt is shown which could provide area navigation and non-precision approach country wide using very low cost receivers. | ||||
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