Scared of mid-airs

On Thu, 03 Aug 2006 16:42:07 GMT, Larry Dighera
wrote:

On Thu, 03 Aug 2006 16:02:22 GMT, Jose
wrote in :

then the pilot would do what he always does to enter R
airspace: Contact ATC.

I've attempted that, and also contacting the FSS as printed on the
charts themselves, and often the putative controlling agency doesn't
know whether it's hot or not.

That is true. Why do you suppose that occurs?

Do you think ATC is so disorganized, that they can't find the military
activity information, or do you think the military has provided
ambiguous information, what? It would seem, that given the system in
place for activating and deactivating Restricted airspace, there
should be a concrete answer available at all times.

Could it be a level of operational intensity that makes
minute-by-minute update impractical?

Example:

Holloman AFB operating four squadrons (32 airplanes each) conducting
Fighter Lead-In Training for recent graduates of Undergraduate Pilot
Training enroute to fighter assignments. Average of 120 sorties per
day ranging from single ship to two, three and four ship flights. Also
second fighter wing with three more squadrons of 18 aircraft each
conducting complex operations coordinated with ground radar
environments and often requiring supersonic airspace.

Schedule published twelve hours before operations commence. Airspace
activated as scheduled, but morning fog precludes launches. Delays of
thirty minutes--should airspace be turned back? Launch when weather
allows and airspace is hot. Schedule is both slipped and compressed to
keep training flow and meet required completions dates.

Flight aborts because of maintenance problems. Beak B is now empty but
A and C remain "hot". Should GA aircraft be cleared through B or
should airspace remain blocked for fifteen minute late launch of
flight? Scheduled A/G mission cancelled because of unavailability of
properly configured aircraft. Add-on to schedule with available
aircraft to fly A/A sortie. Schedule flexes again.

Afternoon weather builds up in Talon N, so unscheduled Beak C takes
additional sorties from Talon N.

And on and on.

Conversely, Saturday and Sunday no scheduled training, so airspace is
released. Maintenance requires a block for a functional check flight
on a repaired airplane. Flexibility to allow delay waiting for ATC to
clear GA aircraft out of the block is no problem. Life goes on.

Isn't that different than your innuendo laden language above?
"ATC is so disorganized..." "military information is so ambiguous..."


Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
www.thunderchief.org
www.thundertales.blogspot.com