"Larry Dighera" wrote in message
...

Does the military _ever_ return its airspace to public use?


Sure, every time they cease using it.



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AVflash Volume 11, Number 7a -- February 14, 2005
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GA PILOTS TAKE ON MILITARY IN N.M.
New Mexico has some wide-open skies, but apparently there is not
enough room there for all the military and civilian pilots who want to
fly. The U.S. Air Force wants to add 700 square miles to the 2,600
square miles now used by the F-16 Falcons based at Cannon Air Force
Base. The airspace expansion would mean rerouting about 40 civilian
flights per day, and intrude onto GA routes between Albuquerque and
Roswell.


About 40 civilian flights per day would require rerouting? I wonder how
that was determined?



"They've grabbed up so much airspace, it's going to be
dangerous for small, civilian aircraft," U.S. Pilots Association
President Steve Uslan told The Albuquerque Journal.


Dangerous? How so? Safety is the reason SUA is established, to either
separate nonparticipating aircraft from hazardous activities or to warn them
of potential hazards.



"And that's a long way around, and that means a lot of fuel and a lot of
time wasted."


Perhaps, but giving the area alone makes it appear bigger.