The Latest Military Airspace Grab: 700 Square Miles!

"Larry Dighera" wrote in message
...


Does the military _ever_ return its airspace to public use?


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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. "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. "And that's a long
way around, and that means a lot of fuel and a lot of time wasted."
http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archive...ll.html#189168

Go to www.cannon.af.mil . There is a 421 page .pdf of the proposed areas.
The proposal creates a new MOA on the flight path. I lived in Roswell for
10
years. MOA's and Restricted areas pretty much encircle it. Try getting out
west bound, you have to fly to Albuquerque or El Paso before you can go on
to say, Phoenix. Roswell (Walker AFB) used to be a SAC base until the
Johnson years, when it was closed down. It is kind of neat flying eastbound
in the springtime. You can see outlines of ships and swastikas that have
been graded into the dirt for targets. Watch out for the 5,000' towers
though .

Allen