Good Question: What is the structure on Armstrong Mill Rd. that shares land with Hartland Park?

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - If you’ve been to Hartland Park, you’ve likely seen the subject of today’s Good Question.

For today’s Good Question, Leslie asks, what is the building or machine on Armstrong Mill Road that shares land with Hartland Park?

She says her kids used to call it the “spaceship docking station.” And the sign says “property of the FAA,” so she thinks it’s probably something to do with airplane radar.

Leslie, you are correct. We checked with the FAA and they tell us this is a navigational aid system known as a VORTAC, and it is used by both civilian and military pilots.

The “VOR” portion of the acronym stands for “Very High Frequency (VHF) Omnidirectional Range;” It’s used by civilian pilots and is operational.

The “TAC” portion of the acronym is short for “TACAN,” short for “Tactical Air Navigation;” this part of the system was used by military pilots using a UHF signal. That portion was decommissioned about five years ago, but it does still provide Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) for the military.

They told us this facility is one of several hundred of its kind across the country.

If you have a Good Question you’d like us to try to answer, send it to goodquestion@wkyt.com.

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