Is Loran Really Back?

Probably not. Although it would make a swell back-up for GPS, lack of FAA interest may yet kill it.

What with the market flush with panel-mount GPS navigators, now comes another twist to cloud the avionics upgrade decision: At the 11th hour, loran has dodged the budget bullet and will remain on the air at least for the next decade.

In mid-summer, the Department of Transportation announced that it has reversed its decision to pull the plug on loran in the year 2000 and will keep the system alive until 2008. (Actually, the official decision hadn’t been announced in early August but DOT leaked the information to aviation and marine user groups.)

That’s good news, right? Especially if you’ve got an old Apollo or Foster loran steaming along in the panel and just can’t bring yourself to...