Definition
A path and terminator leg type used in RNAV procedure coding in which the aircraft flies a specified magnetic heading until it intercepts a defined VOR radial. The leg has no fixed length; it ends the moment the aircraft crosses the named radial from the referenced VOR.
Plain English
Fly this heading until you cross a specific line coming out of a VOR station — that crossing is what ends the leg.
Context Anchor
Seen in instrument procedure design, navigation database coding, and FAA discussions of path-and-terminator legs.
Derivation
In ARINC 424 path-terminator coding, each leg is named by two letters: the first describes the path being flown, the second describes what terminates it. 'V' stands for heading (as opposed to 'C' for course or 'T' for track), and 'R' stands for radial. So VR means 'fly a heading, terminate at a radial.'
Why Pilots Care
Allows the procedure to connect a heading leg to a radial-based track without overshooting or requiring additional fixes.
Analogy
It is like driving north until you cross a marked east-west street. You are not driving on that street; you are using it as the point where this instruction ends.
Intuition Check
Do not read this as flying along the radial. In a VR leg, the aircraft flies a heading; the radial is the line that ends the leg.
Example Sentence 1
After takeoff, the SID coded a VR leg requiring a heading of 090° until intercepting the 120° radial from the departure VOR.
Example Sentence 2
After takeoff the aircraft flew the VR leg until reaching the specified radial, then turned to join the en route airway.