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#1
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Security for Sailplane Pilots??
It's always bothered me that the public, and to some extent aviation
policy makers, have no clue as to the real meaning of "general aviation", and it bothers me even more that soaring is lumped into that group for the purposes of making policy. And there's evidence of why this is a serious issue to our sport in this month's Atlantic Monthly which starts off with a short article entitled "Private Plane, Public Menace". This journal influences thinkers and policymakers, so it shouldn't be ignored. See http://tinyurl.com/359fgyu for the full article. The author has a legitimate concern, and generally argues for a more rational approach to airline passenger security, BUT the likely message people will take away from the store is "we need to restrict all aircraft operations", including LSAs, gliders, hang gliders, you name it. Jim Kellett Chairman, Virginia Soaring Association |
#2
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Security for Sailplane Pilots??
On Tue, 11 Jan 2011 06:49:28 -0800 (PST), Jim Kellett
wrote: This journal influences thinkers and policymakers, so it shouldn't be ignored. See http://tinyurl.com/359fgyu for the full article. The author has a legitimate concern, and generally argues for a more rational approach to airline passenger security, BUT the likely message people will take away from the store is "we need to restrict all aircraft operations", including LSAs, gliders, hang gliders, you name it. Write this guy a public letter and demand the same kind of security checks that this guy is talking about for any truck driver before he enters his truck. Mention that any halfways decent-sized truck can carry twenty tons of explosies. Mention Oklahoma. Should be easy to get at least one Oklahoma survivor (or someone who lost a beloved) who supports your point of view. Then, demand these security checks for *any* car. Very easy to add some statistics about terrorists killing thousands of people each year using car bombs. Very had to find *any* case for a light aircraft that has been used as a weapon, because there has not been such a case yet. Then ask this guy why alcohol and smoking are still allowed in God's own country - how many tens of thousands of people are being killed each year? Enough to characterize this stuff as weapons of mass destruction? Then, go to court. Demand that the same security nonsense that is applied in aviation should be applied to *anything* that might pose a risk. Beat them with their own weapons. Andreas |
#3
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Security for Sailplane Pilots??
On Jan 11, 10:58*am, Andreas Maurer wrote:
On Tue, 11 Jan 2011 06:49:28 -0800 (PST), Jim Kellett wrote: This journal influences thinkers and policymakers, so it shouldn't be ignored. See http://tinyurl.com/359fgyufor the full article. *The author has a legitimate concern, and generally argues for a more rational approach to airline passenger security, BUT the likely message people will take away from the store is "we need to restrict all aircraft operations", including LSAs, gliders, hang gliders, you name it. Write this guy a public letter and demand the same kind of security checks that this guy is talking about for any truck driver before he enters his truck. Mention that any halfways decent-sized truck can carry twenty tons of explosies. Mention Oklahoma. Should be easy to get at least one Oklahoma survivor (or someone who lost a beloved) who supports your point of view. Then, demand these security checks for *any* car. Very easy to add some statistics about terrorists killing thousands of people each year using car bombs. Very had to find *any* case for a light aircraft that has been used as a weapon, because there has not been such a case yet. Then ask this guy why alcohol and smoking are still allowed in God's own country - how many tens of thousands of people are being killed each year? Enough to characterize this stuff as weapons of mass destruction? Then, go to court. Demand that the same security nonsense that is applied in aviation should be applied to *anything* that might pose a risk. Beat them with their own weapons. Andreas Light planes actually have been used as suicide weapons, but match sticks and arson cause more destruction and loss of life than light planes with suicidal pilots. What's really weird about this article is that Mr. Goldberg was actually pretty good on Colbert (I saw it on youtube) -- he's the guy that coined the term "security theater" to describe the complete nonsense that now goes on daily at US airline terminals. Reading this article makes me think he's more interested in simply stirring the pot than bringing actual sense back to the fore. It'd be really heartening to see some less paranoid people in government office.... -Evan Ludeman / T8 |
#4
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Security for Sailplane Pilots??
On 1/11/2011 8:58 AM, Andreas Maurer wrote:
On Tue, 11 Jan 2011 06:49:28 -0800 (PST), Jim Kellett wrote: This journal influences thinkers and policymakers, so it shouldn't be ignored. See http://tinyurl.com/359fgyu for the full article. The author has a legitimate concern, and generally argues for a more rational approach to airline passenger security, BUT the likely message people will take away from the store is "we need to restrict all aircraft operations", including LSAs, gliders, hang gliders, you name it. Write this guy a public letter and demand the same kind of security checks that this guy is talking about for any truck driver before he enters his truck. Mention that any halfways decent-sized truck can carry twenty tons of explosies. Mention Oklahoma. Should be easy to get at least one Oklahoma survivor (or someone who lost a beloved) who supports your point of view. Then, demand these security checks for *any* car. Very easy to add some statistics about terrorists killing thousands of people each year using car bombs. Very had to find *any* case for a light aircraft that has been used as a weapon, because there has not been such a case yet. Then ask this guy why alcohol and smoking are still allowed in God's own country - how many tens of thousands of people are being killed each year? Enough to characterize this stuff as weapons of mass destruction? Then, go to court. Demand that the same security nonsense that is applied in aviation should be applied to *anything* that might pose a risk. Beat them with their own weapons. Andreas "What Andreas said!" (Hey - if I didn't know better I might've thought he was writing as a wild-eyed, radical (U.S. of A.-based), American!!!) In any event, whether - opining now as a long-suffering U.S. of A.-based American - we're discussing the heavy-handed nationally-affecting idiocies of (for one example) our TSA, or the more locally-based idiocies of (say) politically-active, freedom-devouring insanities of intolerant neighbors who want to craft ==*their*== perfect world (which always seems to include only their own opinions, of course), responding politely and meekly doesn't work - no matter how badly we might wish or hope to be a good neighbor and avoid avoidable conflict. The only thing that - in my experience(s) - *has* worked to (sometimes permanently, so far as I've seen) silence voices as this is to politely, civilly, factually and bluntly 'call them' on their intolerance. Using Boulder (Colorado's) municipally-owned airport as an example, since my introduction to it (1976), the Soaring Society of Boulder (SSB) has continuously operated from it, during which span there have been several (often contentious, vociferous, and intolerance-based) attempts by a few individuals to either force 'those noisy towplanes' permanently off the field, or alternatively to close the field down entirely ("Kids, can you spell 'Hemet'?"). More than once, serious groundswells emerged within SSB expressing fears the intolerant factions would 'win,' a point I mention here by way of trying to convey how noisily adamant the 'public discussion' sometimes became. So far, multiple-use sanity (not to mention 'legality') has prevailed. The most recently (4-5 years? and city-)appointed/paid airport manager recognizes the philosophical importance of 'playing by the (FAA--based, among other hand-in-the-pot) rules' and has consistently used factually-based statistice to counter 'intolerantly-based-whining' opposition to various uses of the airport. (For example, simply by logging who complained to him by name and/or location, he 'discovered' something like 95% of the noise complaints came from 2 or 3 people/locations in a recent year...and had the fair-mindedness to include the stat in a quarterly [or so] based airport newsletter. Hardly the 'groundswell' such whiners like to proclaim.) During one of the more contentious periods, I happened to take a phone call at the Club shack complaining about towplane noise. Figuring whomever I was speaking with was: a) sufficiently motivated to b) (civilly) complain about things, I got a sense 'for where they were coming from' and offered to get back with them with additional background information they might find helpful solidifying their opinions. Following the phone call, I spoke with the (now deceased) soaring FBO & picked his brain a bit, knowing he fielded such calls semi-routinely. Turned out he'd fielded at least one call from the same people (and, understandably, was short on patience with them in particular, for other, tale-lengthening reasons). In any event, I wrote these particular folks a 3-page letter detailing: 1) why it was unlikely they had any legal case to evict the soaring operations; 2) what the FBO/Club(s) had done operationally over the years to reduce noise footprints while maintaining 'acceptable levels of operational safety'; 3) noted that particular lemon couldn't be squeezed with expectations of juice (though some years later the new 4-bladed Hoffman prop for Pawnees was expensively/effectively adopted by all local Pawnee operators); and 4) pointed out that as relatively new residents of the area either they or their realtor had failed to do due diligence when it came to identifying previously-/long-standing (and entirely societally-normal) noise sources (e.g. the airport and a nearby/active railroad line). I closed by thanking them for their concern, and for taking time to speak with the soaring FBO and my Club about those concerns, expressed regret that all that reasonably could be done had already been done, and wished them well in the future. Several months later, some discreet checking revealed these particular folks had vanished from the ranks of the routine whiners. So, (and while fully recognizing that there's no hope of being reasonable with the unreasonable elements of society) IMHO salient points a 1) what's the point in NOT immediately hauling out/firing your main guns once recognizing you're in a 'war'? 2) the preponderance of society is at least partially rationally based, so deal with issues rationally and as publicly as necessary; and 3) don't hesitate to (politely) call spades spades (too often nuance is lost on rabble-rousers and ['Hemet'] petty tyrants). FWIW, the local political climate surrounding the Boulder airport has - for almost the entire duration of the present airport manager - been controversy-free. It's not because he or glider people have consistently sought to be 'meek good neighbors,' but rather he/they have (when necessary) applied the above 3 points. End of opinionatory tale... Bob W. |
#5
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Security for Sailplane Pilots??
In article ,
Andreas Maurer wrote: Then, go to court. Demand that the same security nonsense that is applied in aviation should be applied to *anything* that might pose a risk. Beat them with their own weapons. Just remember to be careful what you ask for, because you might get it. -- Mike Ash Radio Free Earth Broadcasting from our climate-controlled studios deep inside the Moon |
#6
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Security for Sailplane Pilots??
On 1-11-2011 15:58, Andreas Maurer wrote:
Then, go to court. Demand that the same security nonsense that is applied in aviation should be applied to *anything* that might pose a risk. Beat them with their own weapons. Andreas Careful what you suggest. They may in fact try to do just that (security checks for everything you do). |
#7
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Security for Sailplane Pilots??
On Tue, 11 Jan 2011 22:40:40 +0000, Scott
wrote: Careful what you suggest. They may in fact try to do just that (security checks for everything you do). In 1776 the people on your side of the pond showed more enthusiasm against government-dictated senseless rules... Andreas |
#8
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Security for Sailplane Pilots??
On 1-12-2011 16:31, Andreas Maurer wrote:
On Tue, 11 Jan 2011 22:40:40 +0000, wrote: Careful what you suggest. They may in fact try to do just that (security checks for everything you do). In 1776 the people on your side of the pond showed more enthusiasm against government-dictated senseless rules... Andreas Yes, but it seems that enthusiasm went out of vogue sometime in the 20th century... |
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