CJ, I think a phone call to AOPA first thing tomorrow morning would be in
order. This is an outrage, and I would think that very loud alarm bells
should be going off over this (at AOPA's headquarters, not at the Department
of Homeland Stupidity).

I fly around and take pictures al the time. I have no plans to file a
flight lan or "coordinate" with anybody that's not required in the regs, and
I am not aware of any reg that says I need to get down on my knees and beg
some potentate for permission to do so (even if I have dared to enter the
class Bravo - with clearance). If someone from FSS told me he wouldn't give
me the weather up ahead because I had a camera along or because I shouldn't
someplace where I could possibly disturb some little old lady, I'd be very
tempted to tell the nice FSS man to go **** himself, consequences be damned.

Seriously, I think AOPA would want to hear about this right away. How about
calling 'em in the morning? Toll free and all that....why not?


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


"C J Campbell" wrote in message
...
Yesterday a local aerial photographer came in just fuming. Apparently he
was
working within the Seattle Class B and called FSS to get an update. He had
a
squawk and was in touch with Approach, of course. Anyway, FSS told him
that
they could not find his flight plan and that he was required to have a
flight plan for aerial photography. The operator really chewed him out for
it, saying that there was a NOTAM requiring this flight plan and that it
was
filed in the extended edition of the NOTAMs. The operator basically
refused
to help the pilot.

I am reminded of the 'public notice' that Arthur Dent's house would be
demolished in "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:" It was kept in a locked
drawer in a disused basement behind a door marked "Beware of the Leopard."

Anyway, since I also do a fair amount of aerial photography and had not
heard of this NOTAM I called FSS this morning for clarification. It seems
that there is no NOTAM, but some sort of "Notice of Public Interest" that
FSS briefers get, hence pilots have no access to it. If the pilot tells
FSS
that they are doing an aerial photography mission, then FSS is supposed to
tell the pilot to coordinate the flight with the Seattle Military Desk at
(253) 352-3523. This requirement is supposedly imposed on aerial
photography
only, but the briefer thought it might be a good idea to call this number
any time you are loitering over industrial or other areas. He called it
the
"Little Old Lady" rule. If it might frighten the "Little Old Lady" into
calling the police, then talk to the Seattle Military Desk.

I suggested that it might be better to just tell the "Little Old Lady" to
stuff it, which is what used to happen. Nowadays, though, I guess that
just
is not possible.

I have no idea whether this applies to any flights outside of the Seattle
area. I also asked if there were any other "Notices of Public Interest"
like
this and the briefer said he could not tell me. The briefer allowed that
since there was no way for pilots to know about this he could not see how
any enforcement action could be brought against a pilot that did not
comply.
He also thought that the operator's attitude yesterday was improper. While
it is not yet a requirement that pilots tell Flight Service the reason for
their flight it looks like things are headed that way. I am also sending
the
text of this to AOPA.

--
Christopher J. Campbell
World Famous Flight Instructor
Port Orchard, WA


Ne Obliviscaris