I hope the helicopter operators have been on the phone with AOPA and the
other alphabets to raise a big stink over this. If they haven't, I would
urge you to urge them to do so. This kind of BS should not just be shrugged
off as something we all have to put up with now.

Just like the Kentucky governor's King Air fiasco over DC for Reagan's
funeral, the incidents you describe are perfect examples that show:

1. GA pilots ARE being responsible, doing the right things, and following
all the rules - even when the rules are stupid and unreasonable.
2. It's the "security" apparatus that's screwing up, not us, and these
unnecessary and unneeded restrictions are actually putting lives in danger,
not making anyone one bit safer from any terrorists (personally, I honestly
believe it's just a matter of time until some tragedy is caused as a result
of the restrictions).
3. In spite of our cooperation, GA gets the blame for operational problems
and continues to be burdened with still more and more useless restrictions.

AOPA ought to use this as yet another example of why the flight restricton
madness should be ended. Please try to make sure they know about what
happened.



--
David Herman
N6170T 1965 Cessna 150E
Boeing Field (BFI), Seattle, WA
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Visit the Pacific Northwest Flying Forum:
http://www.pacificnorthwestflying.com


"Bob Chilcoat" wrote in message
...
My neighbor runs one of the sightseeing helicopter companies in NYC.
After
a lot of discussions concerning security for the RNC this week, the TSA
made
a ruling that sightseeing helicopter flights over the Hudson were OK, but
no
Charter or Corporate flights. The Corporate people were insensed, but the
TSA was calling the shots. Gotta let those delegates see Manhatten.
Sightseeing flights were assigned a special frequency so that there would
be
no confusion. Right.

The other morning, on the first day of the restrictions, two sightseeing
flights took off. One was a few minutes out, headed toward the Lady, and
a
second had just gotten airborne when two military choppers blew down the
Hudson. THEY were on the wrong frequency, and could not contact the two,
completely legal, sightseeing choppers. Of course they immediately
assumed
that these two copters were violators. The one closest to base was forced
to return immediately. The one downriver was then intercepted and
escorted
to Morristown, where it and its passengers were held for several hours
and,
because it was now outside the inner TFR, had to be completely security
cleared before it could return to its base. All because the "security"
forces couldn't get the procedures right. It's a good thing they didn't
shoot first. Might have killed some Republican delegates.

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)

I don't have to like Bush and Cheney (Or Kerry, for that matter) to love
America