Tacan

British

/ ˈtækən /

noun

an electronic ultrahigh-frequency navigation system for aircraft which gives a continuous indication of bearing and distance from a transmitting station

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of Tacan

C20: tac ( tical ) a ( ir ) n ( avigation )

Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

Tacan

Thus, while most commercial pilots rely on Omni for bearing, they find neither DME nor Tacan in their cockpits.

From Time Magazine Archive

Omni-DME is slightly more accurate for distance; Tacan is slightly better on direction.

From Time Magazine Archive

And Under Secretary of Commerce Louis Rothschild testified that Tacan is three to ten years from being perfected.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Air Force, which found the Navy system less sensitive to rough terrain than Omni-DME, backed Tacan.

From Time Magazine Archive

Then it was that the same two striplings surprised him, namely, the two sons of Nera son of Nuathar son of Tacan, while engaged in that feat.

From The Ancient Irish Epic Tale Táin Bó Cúalnge by Joseph Dunn

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023