Moving TFR. EXERCISE EXTREME CAUTION

[metro752]

I am sure Studentpilot.com and other forums are on fire with this joke, but just in case someone who reads here and goes flying with no radios knows about this joke:

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AOPA ePilot Special Airspace Bulletin April 30, 2004
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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.


==> HELPFUL WEB LINKS <==

AOPA's Real-Time Flight Planner provides up-to-the-minute graphical
depictions of TFRs ( http://www.aopa.org/flight_planner/ ).
Check the FAA's TFR Web site ( http://tfr.faa.gov ).

Download the AOPA Air Safety Foundation's intercept procedures card
( http://download.aopa.org/epilot/2003/intercept.pdf )or review ASF's
"Know Before You Go" program ( http://www.aopa.org/asf/know_before/ ).


http://www.fsuniverse.com/images/us_IL.jpg

[FITZY]

"While auto traffic traveling the same roads at the same times of the
bus tour will apparently be unaffected...."

Not necessarily true. I have been in the area of several presidential motorcades, and all roads, entrance ramps, driveways, parking lots, etc. that intersect with the route are closed by state or local police, as are the routes themselves upstream and downstream of the motorcade. A phalanx of police cars both leads and trails the official vehicles, isolating them from all other traffic. Nothing moves until it has passed.

[MikeS_KPDX]

There is little doubt that at some point, in hopefully the near future, we as a nation will look back upon this self induced paranoid psycosis with a mix of both embarasement and amusement.

[Wright Air CEO]

I'm just glad I live in North Carolina. However my airport was shut down the entire day when the President came to Charlotte. I had lesson that day!

[YoungstownATCS]

Wow, have I heard a lot of stuff on 121.5 this week about this...lost of calls from E-3s warning pilots to depart the area!!!

[MeltedPixel]

Thats a joke, right??!?!?

[heyer]

Probably very interesting for some to know where and when exactly the President will be on his bus tour. :-roll

Wouldn't it be much safer for him not to publish all those details?

[Jeff S KDTW]

No.

The Moving TFRs in Mich. and Ohio have expired, but it did cause me to cancel a flight.

Fun stuff. :-roll