Presidential TFR\'s a real pain
[ QUOTE ]
AOPA ePilot Special Airspace Bulletin April 30, 2004
-------------------------------------------------------------------
A special notice to AOPA members in the Great Lakes area
==> ATTENTION PILOTS <==
FAA TO ESTABLISH TFRs FOR BUSH'S MULTI-STATE BUS TOUR
AOPA is sending this message to advise pilots in Indiana, Michigan, and
Ohio that the FAA has issued notams restricting flight for President
Bush's two-day Midwestern bus tour beginning Monday, May 3.
There are also press reports that the Bush campaign is planning
several more of these trips, possibly to Wisconsin and Iowa late
next week. AOPA is imploring pilots to exercise extreme caution.
"Protecting the President of the United States is absolutely vital. But
having said that, the security arrangements for this trip will tax the
FAA, perhaps beyond its breaking point," said AOPA President Phil
Boyer. "The agency is not set up to be able to make and distribute
these kind of short-notice, short-term changes that are so often part
of whistle stop-style campaign swings. And if the FAA can't get the
word out, then pilots are being put in a position where they can be
doing everything the way they're supposed to, yet still end up violating
regulations."
On Monday, Bush will begin the tour at 12:25 p.m. local in Niles,
Michigan, where there will be a 30-nautical-mile-radius temporary flight
restriction (TFR) and a 10-nm-radius general aviation no-fly zone that
will move along with the motorcade for the entire bus tour. The TFR over
Niles overlaps by 20 minutes with another 30-nm-radius TFR over
Kalamazoo that starts at 3:30 p.m. and ends at 5:50 p.m. local. Another
30-nm-radius TFR goes into effect over Troy from 8:10 p.m. on Monday
to 8:35 a.m. local on Tuesday.
Bush then heads to Ohio where there will be 30-nm-radius TFRs over
Dayton from 10:45 a.m. to 1:50 p.m. local; Lebanon from 1:50 p.m. to
7:45 p.m. local; and Cincinnati from 7:45 p.m. to 8:50 p.m. local on
Tuesday.
While auto traffic traveling the same roads at the same times of the
bus tour will apparently be unaffected, the impact on air traffic will
be severe. "TFRs that cover presidential motorcades are nothing new,"
said Melissa Bailey Rudinger, an AOPA vice president. "They predate
the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. This is different. Whereas the
old TFRs were 3 miles in radius, this is 10, and it's nine times higher."
The notams explaining the restrictions are complex. Neither the FAA's
own graphical TFR Web site nor AOPA's much more powerful Real-
time Flight Planner will be able to provide accurate, real-time depictions,
especially if the schedule changes unexpectedly. However, AOPA is
preparing and posting plain-language explanations on AOPA Online
along with the notams and graphics that should help pilots plan their
routes. See ( http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/notams.html ).
Because TFR airspace frequently changes, AOPA strongly encourages
pilots to obtain a briefing and CHECK NOTAMS before every flight. TFR
violators will be intercepted and forced to land.
[/ QUOTE ]
Grrrrrrrr
[ QUOTE ]
AOPA ePilot Special Airspace Bulletin April 30, 2004
-------------------------------------------------------------------
A special notice to AOPA members in the Great Lakes area
==> ATTENTION PILOTS <==
FAA TO ESTABLISH TFRs FOR BUSH'S MULTI-STATE BUS TOUR
AOPA is sending this message to advise pilots in Indiana, Michigan, and
Ohio that the FAA has issued notams restricting flight for President
Bush's two-day Midwestern bus tour beginning Monday, May 3.
There are also press reports that the Bush campaign is planning
several more of these trips, possibly to Wisconsin and Iowa late
next week. AOPA is imploring pilots to exercise extreme caution.
"Protecting the President of the United States is absolutely vital. But
having said that, the security arrangements for this trip will tax the
FAA, perhaps beyond its breaking point," said AOPA President Phil
Boyer. "The agency is not set up to be able to make and distribute
these kind of short-notice, short-term changes that are so often part
of whistle stop-style campaign swings. And if the FAA can't get the
word out, then pilots are being put in a position where they can be
doing everything the way they're supposed to, yet still end up violating
regulations."
On Monday, Bush will begin the tour at 12:25 p.m. local in Niles,
Michigan, where there will be a 30-nautical-mile-radius temporary flight
restriction (TFR) and a 10-nm-radius general aviation no-fly zone that
will move along with the motorcade for the entire bus tour. The TFR over
Niles overlaps by 20 minutes with another 30-nm-radius TFR over
Kalamazoo that starts at 3:30 p.m. and ends at 5:50 p.m. local. Another
30-nm-radius TFR goes into effect over Troy from 8:10 p.m. on Monday
to 8:35 a.m. local on Tuesday.
Bush then heads to Ohio where there will be 30-nm-radius TFRs over
Dayton from 10:45 a.m. to 1:50 p.m. local; Lebanon from 1:50 p.m. to
7:45 p.m. local; and Cincinnati from 7:45 p.m. to 8:50 p.m. local on
Tuesday.
While auto traffic traveling the same roads at the same times of the
bus tour will apparently be unaffected, the impact on air traffic will
be severe. "TFRs that cover presidential motorcades are nothing new,"
said Melissa Bailey Rudinger, an AOPA vice president. "They predate
the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. This is different. Whereas the
old TFRs were 3 miles in radius, this is 10, and it's nine times higher."
The notams explaining the restrictions are complex. Neither the FAA's
own graphical TFR Web site nor AOPA's much more powerful Real-
time Flight Planner will be able to provide accurate, real-time depictions,
especially if the schedule changes unexpectedly. However, AOPA is
preparing and posting plain-language explanations on AOPA Online
along with the notams and graphics that should help pilots plan their
routes. See ( http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/notams.html ).
Because TFR airspace frequently changes, AOPA strongly encourages
pilots to obtain a briefing and CHECK NOTAMS before every flight. TFR
violators will be intercepted and forced to land.
[/ QUOTE ]
Grrrrrrrr
