TFR's .......

With all the fires in the western states, dignitaries flying around, presidential campaigning and other activities occurring tis the season for many TFR's that we must avoid. Critical for competitions, formal and informal, and recreational flying to examine every morning and during the day.

Here are a few links I have been using

http://tfr.faa.gov/tfr2/list.html - FAA list. Provides links to graphical version overlay-ed on sectionals. the SUA button, usefull for WINSCORE and flight computers, does not work 8-(

http://www.2ld.de/tfr2kml/ - include the KML file in Google Earth. Easy to visualize TFR, see exact location including ceiling and also has a time line feature to see if the TFR expires during the day. REMEMBER TFR's cannot be overflown in SSA sanctioned competitions, you will get a zero for the day, unless changed via a waiver from the SSA competition committee. Requires manual refresh or restarting GE to get latest data.

http://sggate.arc.nasa.gov:9518/GoogleEarth/tfr.kml - From the FAA. refreshes every 15 minutes. No time line bar.

Lets be safe out there and give these TFR a wide berth, specifically if it is a fire fighting operation. While we want to go out and have fun, we are just playing the fire fighting folks are trying to save land, structures, lives and their own skin. We can always fly another day!

Ron Gleason