ADIZ Violation Explained in AOPA Magazine

"Mike Schumann" wrote in message
ink.net...
I have 0 sympathy for either of these guys. Since when is a GPS required
for VFR navigation? What happened to learning how to read a map and
looking out the window? Makes you really question a system where you get
your pilots license and you are good to go for life. Maybe there should be
some periodic retest to make sure people still have the skills they need or
have learned about new stuff that didn't exist when they first got their
license.

Mike Schumann

There is a review you know? Happens about every 2 years.

Me too

Bob Gardner 77+

"Bob Moore" wrote in message
. 122...
"Jay Honeck" wrote
-- but I found myself thinking about all the 70 year-old pilots
that hang out at my airport, and I realized that it could have
easily happened to many of them.

Now..now..Jay, Being 70 years old doesn't equate to being a
"dumb****".

Bob Moore 70+

Jay Honeck wrote:

This Sheaffer fellow seems an awful lot like some of those guys --
except that he hopped in a 150 and blasted off into the most heavily
defended airspace in the world, almost completely unprepared.

How 'bout we change "heavily defended" to "heavily regulated"?

I'm not sure our defenses are any more elaborate here than, say, Nellis or
Tonopah.

"Comedy of errors". hmph

It might have been if it had only affected the two of them. Instead we had
a near-panic in the downtown DC area and thousands of pilots flagged as
"untrustworthy" simply by association.

--
John T
http://sage1solutions.com/TknoFlyer
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Roy Smith wrote:
In article ,
Stubby wrote:

Roy Smith wrote:

"Jay Honeck" wrote:


A simple "Follow me" sign would have solved the problem almost
instantly -- but the crew in the Blackhawk had no such sign.


They should have flown a code flag Lima.

OK. I'll bite. Please explain.


It means "Follow me"


Do you know for sure that one of the choppers didn't fly the flag.
Now, if I saw it, I'm not sure I'd understand what a chopper was trying
to tell me. [I'd like to fly a flag with my cell phone number on it!]

I read the article too, but it scares me that there are pilots out
there flying with so littel understanding of navigation and airspace
in general. I think the license suspension was justified, IMHO.

(Roy Smith) wrote:

In article ,
Stubby wrote:
Roy Smith wrote:
"Jay Honeck" wrote:

A simple "Follow me" sign would have solved the problem almost
instantly -- but the crew in the Blackhawk had no such sign.


They should have flown a code flag Lima.
OK. I'll bite. Please explain.

It means "Follow me"

You may be right but you would have to educate many people on the
meaning. A sign in a helicopter makes more sense. At least I have
seen intercept procedures and protocol but could not explain all of
them without me cheat sheet.

Ron Lee

"Jay Honeck" wrote:

I can't believe people would be so penny-wise and pound-foolish. On
the other hand, the decision to disconnect the lighter was probably
made before the advent of all these hand-held, battery-operated
devices.

And my Etrex will run about 12 hours ona fresh set of rechargeable
batteries. My Airmap may not last that long but surely enough for a
typical cross-country flight. No cigarette lighter plugin is needed.

Ron Lee

Mike Schumann wrote:
I have 0 sympathy for either of these guys. Since when is a GPS required
for VFR navigation? What happened to learning how to read a map and looking
out the window? Makes you really question a system where you get your
pilots license and you are good to go for life. Maybe there should be some
periodic retest to make sure people still have the skills they need or have
learned about new stuff that didn't exist when they first got their license.

If they'd drawn a straight line between Smoketown and Lumberton, they
would have pretty much missed the entire ADIZ mess (and the class B as
well). The straight line path if I recall runs right down the east
edge of the ADIZ. If they'd have tracked down the eastern shore until
past DC, they wouldn't have come close and the visual landmark (the
Chesapeake bay) is pretty hard to miss. Yes, it does mean that they
would have had to cross the water however.

Jay Honeck wrote:
The current issue of AOPA Pilot has a fascinating article about the two
pilots (one certificated, one student) who penetrated the Washington ADIZ
last spring, and brought the wrath of the government down upon us all.

What struck me was the entirely casual way in which it all happened. Troy
Martin (the student) and Jim Sheaffer (the 70 year old pilot -- NOT a flight
instructor, as some had reported) had met completely by chance at an airport
function, and become friends just a week before the flight. Martin had 30
hours of training, and was coming up on his long cross-country flights -- so
when he heard that Sheaffer was planning a long flight from their base in
Lancaster, PA to a North Carolina fly-in, he inquired about tagging along.

Thus began the most atrociously influential ADIZ bust since 9/11.

Another reason that we all learn de(a)d reckoning and pilotage. Not
having a GPS is a pretty poor excuse for getting lost. How many years
did airplanes navigate successfully, including across oceans, with no GPS?

Yes, it sounds like the Feds intercepting weren't the sharpest knives in
the drawer, but this screw-up clearly rests on the shoulders of both of
these pilots, and I hesitate to use the term pilot.


Matt

Gene Seibel wrote:

There are informed 70 year olds and un-informed 70 year olds. Could
have just as easily happened to some cocky 30 year old.
--
Gene (70 is only 15 away) Seibel

You're 85 and still using a computer! I'm impressed!! :-)


Matt