Short Final: What’s In A Name?

Image: ZabMilenko - CC BY 3.0/Wikimedia Commons
Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • A pilot routinely uses VORs EWA (Kewanee) and LBY (Eaton) to navigate around military facilities in southern Mississippi.
  • The pilot inquired with Memphis Center about the confusing name discrepancy between the VOR ID "LBY" and its name "Eaton."
  • Memphis Center humorously responded that the reason for such a naming was an unanswerable government mystery due to lack of funds.
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Traveling southwest to New Orleans through southern Mississippi, our IFR clearance always includes a pair of VORs, EWA and LBY, to steer clear of the numerous military facilities in the area. I queried Memphis Center about their names, Kewanee and Eaton.

Baron 658M: “Center, I can understand the name Kewanee and ID of EWA, but do you know how they got Eaton out of LBY?”

Memphis Center was quick with a response, almost as if he’d prepared it: “Sir, there isn’t enough government money to answer that question.”

Travis Witherington
Knoxville, Tennessee

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