How do you fly a VOR approach in a flight simulator?

To fly a VOR approach in a flight simulator, brief the matching chart, tune and identify the VOR, select the radio-navigation source, set and intercept the published course, and obey every altitude restriction. Level at MDA, then land only with the required visual reference and a normal descent available; otherwise fly the missed approach.

Within Aviation & Real-World Flying, a conventional VOR approach is treated as a non-precision instrument procedure. The VOR supplies lateral guidance, but no glideslope. The approach chart—not the simulator's moving map—defines the route, fixes, altitudes, minima and missed approach.

What is a VOR approach, and what does the VOR signal provide?

A VOR approach uses bearings from a VHF omnidirectional range station to guide the aircraft laterally towards an airport or runway environment. The station transmits 360 radials extending outwards from it; the receiver compares the selected course with the aircraft's position and moves the course deviation indicator, or CDI.

The VOR signal is line-of-sight and angular. Terrain, low altitude and excessive distance can block it, while the same CDI deflection represents progressively less lateral distance as the aircraft approaches the station. Directly overhead, expect rapid needle movement and a TO/FROM change in the cone of confusion.

A VOR does not provide vertical guidance or automatic runway alignment. A so-called VOR landing is therefore a visual landing made after using the instrument procedure to reach a safe position and altitude. Even a runway-named VOR approach may have a final course offset from the runway centreline.

What should you brief before a VOR approach?

Brief the complete procedure before leaving the initial approach altitude, including how every fix and the missed-approach point will be identified. Our guide to finding courses, fixes, altitude restrictions and minima on an approach chart covers the chart-reading fundamentals.

• Chart and navigation-data match: Frequencies, fixes and complete procedures can differ when the chart and simulator use different data cycles. Do not combine the route from one cycle with the altitudes from another.
• Station details: Note the frequency, identifier and whether the VOR is on the airport, beyond it or offset from the final course.
• Final approach course: Record the published magnetic course and determine whether it tracks towards or away from the station.
• Entry: Brief the initial approach fix, feeder route, procedure turn, holding pattern or expected radar vector.
• Vertical profile: Mark the minimum altitude at every segment, each step-down fix, the final approach fix and the published MDA/H or other applicable minima.
• Missed-approach point: Establish whether the MAP is defined by station passage, DME, a named fix or elapsed time. It is not automatically the point where MDA is reached.
• Missed approach: Memorise at least the initial climb, heading or track, turn restriction and target altitude before starting the final descent.
• Aircraft category: Use the appropriate chart row for the aircraft and the planned straight-in or circling manoeuvre. Do not choose a lower category merely because the simulator is being flown slowly.

If basic receiver operation is still unfamiliar, practise tuning, identifying and tracking a VOR with the CDI before adding approach altitudes and timing.

How do you fly a VOR approach step by step?

The safest sequence is to configure the receiver during a low-workload phase, join the published course at a protected altitude and treat every descent restriction as a hard floor.

1. Set the altimeter and minima. Enter the applicable local pressure rather than leaving the altimeter on standard pressure. Confirm the correct straight-in or circling minima and set an altitude bug or minimums alert if the aircraft provides one.
2. Tune and identify the VOR. Put the frequency into the correct NAV receiver, make it active and verify the Morse identifier or valid decoded identifier. A station name on the moving map does not prove that the receiver is using the intended signal. Some simulator aircraft do not reproduce ident audio faithfully, so check how that particular model represents identification.
3. Select the correct source. On aircraft with a source selector, choose NAV, VLOC or the equivalent radio source. A mistake we see constantly is a correctly tuned NAV1 radio while the CDI and autopilot remain coupled to GPS.
4. Set the published course. Rotate the OBS or course selector to the charted course, not its reciprocal. An inbound leg towards the station normally shows TO; an outbound leg normally shows FROM. The procedure geometry is controlling, so do not reverse the selected course merely to obtain the flag you expected.
5. Fly the authorised entry. Follow the feeder route, initial approach segment, procedure turn or hold-in-lieu unless vectors or a clearance permit something else. When practising without dependable simulator ATC, begin at a published fix and altitude rather than inventing a shortcut through terrain-protection areas.
6. Configure before final. Reduce speed, complete the appropriate checks and choose a configuration that will not require large power or trim changes after the final approach fix. Account for tailwind when deciding whether the available distance is sufficient.
7. Intercept and track the final course. Use a moderate intercept angle, then turn onto a wind-corrected heading as the CDI centres. Make small corrections towards the needle and reduce them as it returns. Repeatedly steering at the needle produces an S-shaped track, especially close to the station.
8. Descend only when authorised by the chart. Cross each fix at or above its minimum altitude. After the final approach fix, select a descent rate that reaches MDA in time to stabilise before the MAP without diving. For a path close to 3°, groundspeed multiplied by five gives a useful approximate descent rate in feet per minute.
9. Level at MDA and locate the MAP. Unless the applicable procedure and operating method specifically use different minima, arrest the descent at MDA. Start any required timer at the charted timing point and use the published time for the applicable groundspeed. Reaching MDA early does not move the MAP closer.
10. Land or fly the missed approach. Continue below MDA only with the required visual reference and a normal, stabilised descent available. Otherwise add power, establish the published climb and follow the missed routing. If the approach fails before the MAP, climbing early is normally safer, but do not begin a protected missed-approach turn early unless the chart or ATC permits it. Review the full missed-approach and go-around sequence before practising in low visibility.

What changes on a VOR/DME approach?

A VOR/DME approach uses distance as well as VOR course guidance, so the receiver must display distance from the station specified by the chart. Do not assume that a GPS distance to the airport, runway or next flight-plan waypoint is the required DME value.

DME indicates slant range, which is the direct distance between aircraft and station rather than pure horizontal distance. The difference is usually small on final but can be conspicuous when high and close to the facility. The DME may also come from a separately identified station rather than the VOR whose radial is being tracked.

Use each published distance to confirm step-down fixes, descent limits and the MAP. Procedures built around several distance restrictions need tighter preparation; our practical VOR/DME approach workflow explains how to manage those fixes without descending early.

When can you descend below the VOR approach MDA?

When an MDA is published, descend below it only after obtaining the visual references required by the applicable rules and confirming that a normal landing can be made. MDA is a floor, not a decision altitude that may be rounded through while waiting for the runway to appear.

A visual descent point marks the position from which a normal descent from MDA should be possible. Seeing the runway after passing it may require an excessive descent angle or abrupt alignment; going missed is the better decision when the landing cannot remain stabilised.

On a circling approach, maintain at least the circling MDA while manoeuvring, remain within the protected area appropriate to the aircraft category and keep the required runway environment in sight. Simulator moving maps often make the runway easy to locate, but they do not replace the visual-reference requirement being practised.

Can you use GPS or the autopilot on a VOR approach?

GPS and an autopilot can reduce workload, but the correct choice depends on whether the exercise is conventional radio tracking or modern procedure management. For raw VOR practice, use and monitor the radio signal; for a database-coded overlay, verify what the avionics are actually following and retain the charted constraints.

• GPS flight plan: Loading the approach can provide fix sequencing and situational awareness, but it may leave the CDI in GPS mode. That is not the same as tracking the VOR signal.
• Autopilot NAV mode: A compatible autopilot can track a live VOR course once the radio source is selected and the course is intercepted. Capture can fail when the CDI is full-scale, the intercept angle is excessive or the wrong receiver is driving the system.
• Approach mode: APR is not universally the correct mode for a VOR procedure. Use the mode specified for that aircraft's avionics; pressing APR cannot create a radio glideslope where none exists.
• Advisory vertical guidance: A GPS or flight-management system may calculate a descent path. It can support a continuous descent, but it does not cancel charted step-down altitudes, minima or the MAP.

Real-world permission to substitute approved RNAV equipment for a VOR or DME depends on the jurisdiction, equipment approval and procedure wording. A home simulator can reproduce the workflow, but it does not establish that the substitution would be legal in an aircraft.

How do you fly a VOR approach in an A320 simulator?

In an A320 simulator, first decide whether the approach will use FMGS-managed guidance or selected raw-data flying. The A320 does not use the same simple GPS/VLOC CDI workflow found in many general-aviation aircraft, and the two A320 techniques exercise different skills.

For a managed non-precision approach, load the exact procedure and transition in the MCDU, compare every waypoint and constraint with the chart, and display the relevant VOR raw data where the simulated aircraft permits it. In A320 logic that models these modes, the APPR pushbutton may arm APP NAV laterally and FINAL vertically. Check the flight-mode annunciator: pressing the button is not proof that either mode has captured.

The managed vertical path is computed guidance, not a glideslope transmitted by the VOR. Selecting the LS display does not turn a conventional VOR approach into an ILS. If the navigation database does not contain the procedure correctly, required accuracy is lost, or the add-on does not model the relevant modes faithfully, revert to the charted selected-guidance technique rather than trusting an unexplained magenta path.

For selected raw-data flying, tune and identify the station through the aircraft's radio-navigation controls, display the VOR bearing or course information on the navigation display, and use small selected-track or heading corrections. Manage descent with flight-path angle or vertical speed while respecting each altitude restriction. Exact control logic varies between A320 simulator implementations, so the aircraft documentation and displayed mode annunciations take precedence over a generic button sequence.

Why is the VOR needle behaving incorrectly?

Most apparent VOR failures are caused by the wrong source, receiver or course setting, followed by normal station-passage behaviour and navigation-data mismatches.

How should you practise with a VOR simulator?

A useful VOR simulator exercise starts in clear weather with one station, one published course and no automatic lateral guidance. This lets you see the relationship between heading, wind, CDI movement and station passage before adding cloud or a full approach.

• Begin without wind: Intercept the course from both sides and observe how the CDI movement changes as distance decreases.
• Add a crosswind: Establish a wind-corrected heading instead of making continuous turns towards the needle.
• Practise station passage: Hold the planned heading while the indication becomes unstable, then establish the outbound course without chasing the flag.
• Add the published approach: Introduce altitude restrictions, timing, MDA and the missed approach only after course tracking is consistent.
• Finish in low visibility: Hide the moving map if practical and confirm every fix using only the instruments authorised by the procedure.

For real flight, the approved chart, aircraft flight manual, operator procedures, local regulations and instructor guidance take precedence. Simulator navaid modelling, ATC behaviour and weather depiction cannot establish real-world procedural or legal compliance.