Paul,

In terms of mixed emotions (for me...) this may just be the ultimate case of
"My Mother In Law just went over a cliff in my new Porsche..."

I'm a freelance Sports TV Technician AND a very, very new student pilot
(4.5Hrs)

I happen to be a member of the NASCAR on FOX TV Crew. Moreover, I'm also a
resident of the metro Phoenix area and I often work at the sports venues
here as well.

Please allow me to ask some questions of both you and the group.


"Paul Adriance" wrote in message
hlink.net...
On one side of the ring: Arlington Municipal and it's associated
community:..For those of you unfamiliar with Arlington Municipal Airport
in
Washington state, it is home of the third largest fly-in in the country
(run
by the EAA) and the center of general aviation and experimental aircraft
in
the state of Washington and, arguably, the Pacific Northwest.

On the other side of the ring: Nascar, International Speedway Corp,
and
associated county, state and city political leaders. They are seeking to
install a large 30,000+ seat racetrack within 45 minutes of the Seattle
area. Snohomish county and the two adjacent cities near the airport are
recommending 3 sites, all roughly within 2 miles of the airport. There
are
only 2 or 3 counties which meet the base location criteria, so our local
locations don't have a lot of competition.

The associated TFRs that come part and parcel with such a facility would
shut down Arlington for any motor sports event and probably for any other
use due to seating capacity.

Is a capacity of 30,000+ the key to the creation of a TFR? A Nextel Cup
worthy racetrack would be more along the lines of 130,000+ in terms of
capacity.

Of how large a diameter would such a TFR be?

I ask this because (at least as far as commercial air traffic goes) the
sports arenas/stadiums near KPHX (Sky Harbor) seem to be fair game for
flying right past.
Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe (home to the pathetic NFL Cardinals) is just
barely south of the extended centerline to the east of Sky Harbor Airport
and both the baseball stadium and the basketball arena are just north of the
extended centerline to the west. If there are TFRs over these locations,
they don't seem to have much of an effect on aviation. At least not
commercial aviation, but some say that Sky Harbor is a very GA UN-friendly
airport to begin with so it may be a moot point as regards GA.

In fact, we often look for America West a/c flying past the open roof of
Bank One Ballpark (BOB) in order to superimpose AmWest sponsorship messages
as they fly by. We also look forward to the nightly British Airways 777
that roars right over us on their non-stop to Heathrow.

Are commercial carriers exempt from TFRs around sporting events?

Or are only certain events (of national significance) subject to TFRs
(Superbowls, NASCAR Races, World Series, College Bowl Games, etc...)


You can be sure "other" events will be frequent so ISC can recoup their
investment in the facility. I don't have data to back any of this up right
now, but during the intial salvos of this conflict at an airport commision
meeting tonight, someone mentioned an airport in the Arizona area that is
shut down almost 200 days a year due to a large venue near it.

Seriously? I'm not aware of where that would be. Like I said, flights into
and out of Sky Harbor pass right next to over 130,000 potenital sporting
event attendees and I've never noticed a reduction in traffic when a game is
in progress at any of them.


Even IFR traffic is at the whim of the operating agency which can choose
to disallow overflight. Nascar and the ISC probably will not find much
concern over any of this as their pilots and aircraft get waivers for any
of their events while we would be stuck watching them fly from the ground.


They probably will want to attract "touring" series to race on Friday and/or
Saturday nights. They'd be lucky to draw much of a crowd for these races
however. Do there have to be 30,000+ live bodies actually at the event to
warrant a TFR? A NASCAR Nextel Cup weekend is only four days (when the
track is actually "hot" and being used.) Touring series race nights are
usually one and done.

FWIW, GA certainly has a friend in race team owner/P51 pilot Jack Roush (he
of the ultralight accident and subsequent miraculous rescue/recovery
fame...) Driver Rusty Wallace is also a pilot as is Dale Jarrett ...
perhaps a letter writing campaign to these and other Owner/Driver-Pilots
might get a positive response?


We all know the FAA has no authority over the airpsace anymore, TSA and
Homeland security run the show and don't answer to anyone. Should another
terrorist event occur, related to GA or otherwise, all bets are off on
what would happen around such facilities. They make the rules as they go
and
once the facility is present, it is there to stay with any associated
restrictions, current or yet to exist.

The city and county can't be expected to support the airport, the new track
is a political feather in their cap and money in the government
coffers. Unfortunately, I can't say I don't see their side of the
equation either. It's just too bad they can't site it elsewhere. My
hope is that
this fight becomes an exception to the sad disintegration of GA like those
poor airports on the east coast and Megis.

AOPA and the EAA are supposedly working the problem, but I must say this
first public forum has left me with a very sour feeling in my stomach. My
hope is that others read this and look at the issue and maybe someday,
somewhere, someone who has real influence over these decisions will realize
the load they are being fed by the cities and county and that they really
DON'T have the local public support for such a facility and the crippling
impact it would have on our airport.


I'm afraid you are facing the 400Lb Gorilla of sports series. The amount of
revenue generated by a NASCAR weekend is mind boggling and I'm sure all
those dollar signs can have a blinding effect.


I believe Nascar said they would not site a facility where it is not wanted
during deliberations with the state legislature. It remains to be seen if
that is truly the case and whether they meant it was wanted by the local
populace or by the local government.


I don't know how much support you could garner, but I hope you can find a
way to let the poloticians know that (at least among their constiuents who
fly...) voting for the track will be the loss of said constituency.


If nothing else, wish us luck, we're going to need it...

Paul Adriance



Regards,

Jay Beckman
Student Pilot - KCHD
Freelance Sports TV Technician
NASCAR on FOX/NBC
NFL on FOX
Arizona DiamondBacks Home Broadcast Crew