Instrument Flying Handbook Practice Test

A VOR/DME gives you your position relative to a single ground station by providing two pieces of information: the azimuth (bearing) from the station to your aircraft and the distance to the station. The VOR part provides the magnetic bearing or radial you’re on, which tells you which direction you are from the station. The DME part measures how far you are from the station, expressed in nautical miles. Put together, you know you’re at a specific angle and distance from that VOR/DME, which is how you position yourself on a chart. The other options don’t fit because VOR/DME isn’t used to provide time, altitude, elevation, heading, or the station’s frequency or signal strength for navigation purposes.