One of Washington's bitterest technical squabbles, the long rivalry between aircraft-guidance systems, reached a new phase last week. The Air Coordinating Committee announced a compromise plan that looks like a desperate attempt to offend no one. The plan recommends that both guidance systems, VOR (Very High Frequency Omnirange) and TACAN (Tactical Air Navigation) be "combined" under the hybrid name of VORTAC.
VOR, with "Distance Measuring Equipment" (DME), is the present civilian-guidance system. The Civil Aeronautics Administration has installed 480 of its ground stations, and will install 82 more during the current fiscal year at a cost of $86,000 a station. The...
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