Loran Could Face the Obama Budget’s Chopping Block

All aircraft owners who have retained their loran receivers as backups for GPS raise your hands. (Mine is up.) Well, it seems our strategic move could backfire, as the Obama administration is considering decommissioning loran as of next year. Eliminating the system would save Uncle Sam $190 million over five years, according to reports. Loran-C is one of the few available backups to GPS, and should the satellites go dark, loran could end up as the only bright light in the panel. From personal experience, I can vouch for the accuracy of loran-consistently bang on groundspeed readings and within a tenth of a mile of the position readouts when compared with my GPS navigators.