Military people and the gov't like their weekends off too.

Trona is not so far off if you are going from Las Vegas to Cal City or
Tehachapi

BT

"Mary Shafer" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 23 Apr 2004 21:48:16 -0700, "BTIZ"
wrote:

Sorry, Mary, but you are wrong. You're thinking of
an MOA.

No, I was thinking of R-2508, which is a restricted area. My mistake.
I'm sorry.

Mary

Mary... I fly general aviation, power and gliders, through R-2508 on
regular
occasions... mostly on weekends, and while talking to the controlling
agency. Some times I get cleared through it, and some times I have to
stay
clear, in the MOA and shoot the gap at Trona.

That's because NASA Dryden and AFFTC don't have the money for
overtime, so they don't fly much on the weekends. Makes it convenient
for everyone else.

Actually, there's not nearly as much flying these days as there has
been in the past. I can remember when we'd have to loiter to get into
the PIRA, the spin areas, and even the supersonic corridors. These
days you can ask for them on the fly and get them, rather than
requesting them a week in advance.

Although having a restricted area doesn't always do that much good. I
can remember one Wednesday before Thanksgiving when we were flying the
F-8 DFBW and saw a GA airplane fly right in front of it on the tail
camera, downlinked to the control room. The pilot of the safety chase
promptly dashed off and got the guy's tail number for Sport (that's
the RAPCON at Edwards) and when the guy landed in Bishop the FAA was
waiting for him. The guy was just sneaking through the area, taking a
chance that no one would be out there on the day before the holiday, I
guess.

I've always wondered what the guy thought when he saw the F-104 chase
plane circling him. Actually we all wondered if he ever even saw the
zipper, as the chase pilot reported that he never turned his head.

That gap at Trona is a long way off, isn't it? I guess the airline
pilots have a real problem when the Daggett Shelf is hot, as it was
when we were flying the SR-71, because that gap on the southeast
corner gets a lot smaller, particularly when Garry Owen is hot. If it
wasn't a Blackbird you were dodging, it was an artillery shell. ATC
must have been really glad when we finally retired the SRs in '99.

Mary

--
Mary Shafer Retired aerospace research engineer