On 2 Nov 2005 6:35:34 -0500, "Ash Wyllie" wrote in
::


An interesting article in the Washingtom Post.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...110101291.html


To operate at any point in this zone, pilots must go through
unique and elaborate procedures. They must file a flight plan
before entering the ADIZ and must do so by telephone, often having
to wait 10 or 20 minutes on hold rather than just spending a
minute or two to file the plan via computer.

Once in the airplane, pilots must contact a controller for a code
to identify their airplane on radar -- and must often guess the
frequency on which to reach the controller, since it changes. If
the flight plan has been lost in the system, as often occurs, they
may have to land at an airport outside the ADIZ and start over
again. If radio congestion means they can't reach a controller,
they must circle outside the ADIZ border, avoiding other pilots in
the same predicament.

These might seem trivial burdens if they made sense for security,
but they don't. The ADIZ plan displays that special combination of
other early, panicky post-Sept. 11 moves: It doesn't hinder
terrorists, but it complicates life for everyone else. What mainly
stops terrorists from using small aircraft is that they're such
inefficient delivery vehicles. My small propeller airplane, which
I may not legally fly as close to the Capitol as Tysons Corner,
can carry one-sixth as many pounds of cargo -- or bombs -- as my
family car, which I drive close to major buildings every day.

And for the private jets that are large enough to do damage, the
ADIZ offers no real protection. Once a jet is cleared into the
ADIZ, what protects the White House and Capitol is what would
protect them without an ADIZ: missile batteries on the rooftops
and bunkers in the basement.

Perhaps a good compromise would be to require jet aircraft to comply
with the DC ADIZ. After all, turbine aircraft get about 750 feet to
the gallon of fuel, so they carry a copious amounts. Fortunately,
most jet powered aircraft are on IFR flight plans, so they wouldn't be
impacted very much.

Just a thought.