Silent Skies

Yes they were jumping in the TFR.

The jumpers have some advantages in that they don't travel a
very long distance horizontally, and the jump planes are
transponder equipped. Of course our towplanes are similarly
equipped, but once the gliders release, where they go is hard
to predict.

Separate your politics from the task at hand and go
ask for permission or move.

That's already been done, and the Secret Service said no.
I understand what the SS is trying to do -- sanitize the
airspace around the President wherever he is, so that any
unidentified aircraft in the zone is a legitimate target.
Given that powered GA aircraft aren't allowed to just
wander around in the TFR, I don't see any hope for gliders.
It's a bad situation and we're stuck with it. Gliding
has been fading away gradually for years around here.
The Blairstown club and commercial operations are the only
gliding activity left in all of New Jersey. I'm appalled
by the idea that it could be Donald Trump that puts the
final nail in the coffin, but it could very well happen.

I know that AOPA is trying to work out some sort of
compromise, and I have a lot more hope in them being
able to accomplish something than the SSA. So everybody
should be a member of AOPA if you're not already.

Jim Beckman