Definition
Designated points on a Victor airway, marked on en route charts, where a pilot navigating between two VOR stations switches the navigation receiver from the station behind to the station ahead. Changeover points are normally placed at the midpoint between two VORs, but are published at a different location when terrain, signal range, or airway geometry require an earlier or later switch.
Plain English
Spots along an airway where you stop using the VOR station behind you and start using the next VOR station ahead. They tell you when to retune so your navigation signal stays strong and reliable.
Context Anchor
Seen on IFR en route charts and in instrument route planning when flying along routes based on VOR stations.
Derivation
"Changeover" simply combines "change" and "over," meaning to switch from one thing to another. The aviation use is literal: the point at which the pilot changes navigation reference from one VOR over to the next.
Why Pilots Care
Ensures continuous and accurate VOR navigation without gaps in signal coverage between stations.
Grounding Statement
As you fly between two VOR stations, the signal from the one behind generally becomes less useful while the signal from the one ahead becomes more useful.
Intuition Check
A VOR changeover point is not automatically a turn point or a required radio report point. It is mainly the place to change which VOR station you are using for navigation guidance.
Example Sentence 1
Approaching the changeover point on V23, the pilot retuned the nav radio from the station behind to the next VOR ahead.
Example Sentence 2
Charts mark VOR changeover points so pilots know exactly when to switch stations during an IFR flight.