[JYO] "F the SFRA" makes AOPA ePilot

Note: I will still be making my "official" plate change at Leesburg Airport  
on Sunday 2/15/09 at noon in the airport parking lot just for fun and then 
over  to Giovanni's for some Pizza.  Feel free to join me. RSVP here: 
_http://tinyurl.com/ftadiz_ (http://tinyurl.com/ftadiz) 
 
 
 
_http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/region/2009/090212dc.html?WT.mc_id=090213epilot&;
WT.mc_sect=gan_ 
(http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/region/2009/090212dc.html?WT.mc_id=090213epilot&WT.mc_sect=gan)
 
 
Pilot's license plate makes statement against D.C. airspace
 
By AOPA ePublishing staff 
 
 
Complete ADIZ/SFRA online training
AOPA encourages all pilots to complete the FAA’s online course, “_Navigating 
the DC ADIZ/SFRA_ 
(http://www.faasafety.gov/gslac/ALC/course_catalog.aspx?categoryId=11) ” before 
flying within 60 nautical  miles of the DCA VOR/DME. 
_Learn more about the training_ 
(http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/region/2009/090205adiz.html) .

If you’re driving down the road reading vanity plates and see “FTSFRA,” you  
can bet AOPA member Ed Levine of Leesburg, Va., is behind the wheel. His 
vanity  plate isn’t so vain. It stands for “Fight the Special Flight Rules 
Area,” 
the  new name for the Washington, D.C., Air Defense Identification Zone. 
The ADIZ will be replaced by the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Area  Special 
Flight Rules Area (SFRA) starting Feb. 17. AOPA had urged the FAA to  
postpone the D.C. SFRA, arguing that it fell within President Barack Obama’s  
order 
that federal agencies stop and review all regulations issued by the  previous 
administration that had not yet been implemented. After conferring with  the 
Department of Transportation, Department of Defense, and White House  
officials, 
_the FAA on Feb. 6 denied AOPA’s request_ 
(http://download.aopa.org/epilot/2009/090211faaltr.pdf)  to postpone the Feb.  
17 changeover. 
“In developing the final rule, we worked closely with federal law enforcement 
 and security agencies to balance the economic and operational burdens with  
national security needs to the maximum extent possible,” the FAA explained. 
Operationally, pilots won’t notice a difference, but the airspace will now be 
 included in 14 CFR Part 93. The sensitive security airspace will still be a  
30-nautical-mile radius of the Washington, D.C., (DCA) VOR/DME and extend 
from  the surface up to 18,000 feet msl. A 60-nm speed ring also is centered on 
the  VOR/DME. 
“So whether or not it is an ADIZ or a SFRA, we should fight it and let our  
airspace go back to the way things were pre 9/11,” said Levine. “Fight the 
ADIZ.  Fight the SFRA.” 
AOPA has sought changes to or outright elimination of the ADIZ since it was  
hastily imposed in 2003 before the United States invaded Iraq. Initially, the  
ADIZ was couched as a “temporary” measure, but it quickly became evident 
that  federal officials intended to make it permanent.  
In late 2005, when the FAA proposed to make the ADIZ permanent, AOPA called  
on its membership to oppose the move. The FAA received more than 22,000 
comments  on the proposal, the overwhelming majority of which were negative. 
Congress also called numerous hearings to determine the economic impact the  
ADIZ was having on airports and business in the Washington, D.C., area and  
figure out whether the airspace restrictions were truly justified. AOPA  
initiated an economic study in 2005 that showed that 10 of the 13 airports  
analyzed 
inside the ADIZ were losing about $43 million annually in wages,  revenue, 
taxes, and local spending. 
The association was successful in getting the size of the ADIZ reduced from  
its original “Mickey Mouse” shape that encompassed the Baltimore-Washington,  
D.C., Class B airspace to its current 30-nm radius. However, AOPA also had  
lobbied that it be further reduced to a 20-nm radius or outright eliminated  
because the government has never provided evidence that the ADIZ has resulted 
in 
 any measurable increase in security. 
“We never stopped fighting the ADIZ,” said Andy Cebula, AOPA executive vice  
president of government affairs. “Pilots are still adamantly opposed to this  
rule—and Ed Levine is a perfect example! That’s why we will continue looking 
for  opportunities. Circumstances evolve, and rules can be  changed.”
**************The year's hottest artists on the red carpet at the Grammy 
Awards.  AOL Music takes you there. 
(http://music.aol.com/grammys?ncid=emlcntusmusi00000004)

Other related posts: