Saw President Bush's plane (response to "Saw J.T.'s Plane")

The "Saw John Trovolta's Plane" thread got me thinking about
inaccessibility of celebs but nothing compares to the way Bush is
protected from us normal folk!

I'm an A&P student here at Texas State Technical College and our
campus is the old James Connally Air Force Base (Waco, TX.). When Bush
goes to & from Crawford, Air Force One lands & parks here as Waco
Regional's runways are too short for a 747. He then takes Air Force 2
(big helicopter) out to or from his ranch, flanked by several other
mean looking choppers as well as identical decoys, I assume.

Within several hours of Bush's arrival or departure this college
begins to metamorphasize into a place of high tension. There's a
bright orange, fast helicopter that flies a long grid pattern over &
around the campus and this part of Waco. I assume it has much high-
tech gadgetry which can detect anything or anyone potentially
threatening to Bush's safety.

Nobody (not even ATC) knows exactly when AFO is supposed to arrive or
depart but you know it's soon when the area 1/4 to 1/2 mile
surrounding the TSTC control tower building is ridden of all humanity
except lots of dark-windowed cars & SUVs & dark-suited, tense people
with dark glasses. Oh, yeah, and there's lots of german shepherds,
too. If you happen to have class or lab within the sterile zone you
are out of luck for the next hour or two. I have personally missed
several labs & classes because the A&P hangar is well within the
sterile zone (as is pilot training, dental assistant tech. and sub-sea
robotics).

Immediately after 9/11 the entire campus shut down for Bush's arrivals
& departures. You could not go out of or into any building, you were
literally stuck. Before 9/11 one could stand out on the tarmac and
watch AFO taxi up while Bush deplaned or boarded.

Recently I was driving home for lunch and noticed AFO entering the
pattern at TSTC. I reversed my direction and sped through the edge of
the campus to get right under the 747 during it's final. It was quite
a thrill to be directly underneath this rather beautiful jet. I have
heard of dark-suited men in dark SUVs ordering people to put their
cameras away at the arrival or departure ends of Rwy 17 or 35. I guess
one could hide a rocket launcher in your digital if you knew how.

If Bush is not on the plane one can hang out at the tower building on
the tarmac while AFO taxis up directly in front, which is where Bush
boards and deplanes. It then parks across the airport at L3
Communications while Bush enjoys his Western White House.
It is also fortunate that the general public can walk up to AFO while
it's parked at the tower and get just about right under the wingtip,
outside of the rope which surrounds it. This truly is one beauty of a
747. Photos are welcomed as well during this time.

I have heard stories of student pilots trapped out in the TSTC
practice areas in the 95-100 degree Tx. sun in their 152s or Katanas
while Bush comes & goes, even having to divert to Hillsboro or Mexia
due to fuel concerns.
I earned my Commercial/Instrument here but do not currently fly in
Waco so I can't comment on the frustrations generated by the TFR. I
think pilots around here have learned to live with it for the most
part. A few times a year the Waco paper will be headlined with the
hapless pilot who strayed into the TFR only to be quickly escorted to
McGregor by a pair of F-16s or F-18s.

I do count myself fortunate to experience the comings & goings of AFO
and the C-5 which arrives a day or so prior to Bush, these are amazing
aircraft for neophyte mechanic and pilot students to watch land, take
off & taxi. Our classes usually are interuptted by the C-5's arrival.
It's just too cool to watch this huge aircraft land, taxi up just
outside our hangar, raise it's entire nose section and unload the
multitude of vehicles and "stuff" that heralds Bush's arrival.

Handshakes & autographs? Out of the question. All human beings are
ordered away. The consequnce will not be an FBO denied business,
however, it will likely be a high-powered rifle bullet to the head!

Ricky

Ricky wrote:
The "Saw John Trovolta's Plane" thread got me thinking about
inaccessibility of celebs but nothing compares to the way Bush is
protected from us normal folk!

I'm an A&P student here at Texas State Technical College and our
campus is the old James Connally Air Force Base (Waco, TX.). When Bush
goes to & from Crawford, Air Force One lands & parks here as Waco
Regional's runways are too short for a 747. He then takes Air Force 2
(big helicopter) out to or from his ranch, flanked by several other
mean looking choppers as well as identical decoys, I assume.

Within several hours of Bush's arrival or departure this college
begins to metamorphasize into a place of high tension. There's a
bright orange, fast helicopter that flies a long grid pattern over &
around the campus and this part of Waco. I assume it has much high-
tech gadgetry which can detect anything or anyone potentially
threatening to Bush's safety.

Nobody (not even ATC) knows exactly when AFO is supposed to arrive or
depart but you know it's soon when the area 1/4 to 1/2 mile
surrounding the TSTC control tower building is ridden of all humanity
except lots of dark-windowed cars & SUVs & dark-suited, tense people
with dark glasses. Oh, yeah, and there's lots of german shepherds,
too. If you happen to have class or lab within the sterile zone you
are out of luck for the next hour or two. I have personally missed
several labs & classes because the A&P hangar is well within the
sterile zone (as is pilot training, dental assistant tech. and sub-sea
robotics).

Immediately after 9/11 the entire campus shut down for Bush's arrivals
& departures. You could not go out of or into any building, you were
literally stuck. Before 9/11 one could stand out on the tarmac and
watch AFO taxi up while Bush deplaned or boarded.

Recently I was driving home for lunch and noticed AFO entering the
pattern at TSTC. I reversed my direction and sped through the edge of
the campus to get right under the 747 during it's final. It was quite
a thrill to be directly underneath this rather beautiful jet. I have
heard of dark-suited men in dark SUVs ordering people to put their
cameras away at the arrival or departure ends of Rwy 17 or 35. I guess
one could hide a rocket launcher in your digital if you knew how.

If Bush is not on the plane one can hang out at the tower building on
the tarmac while AFO taxis up directly in front, which is where Bush
boards and deplanes. It then parks across the airport at L3
Communications while Bush enjoys his Western White House.
It is also fortunate that the general public can walk up to AFO while
it's parked at the tower and get just about right under the wingtip,
outside of the rope which surrounds it. This truly is one beauty of a
747. Photos are welcomed as well during this time.

I have heard stories of student pilots trapped out in the TSTC
practice areas in the 95-100 degree Tx. sun in their 152s or Katanas
while Bush comes & goes, even having to divert to Hillsboro or Mexia
due to fuel concerns.
I earned my Commercial/Instrument here but do not currently fly in
Waco so I can't comment on the frustrations generated by the TFR. I
think pilots around here have learned to live with it for the most
part. A few times a year the Waco paper will be headlined with the
hapless pilot who strayed into the TFR only to be quickly escorted to
McGregor by a pair of F-16s or F-18s.

I do count myself fortunate to experience the comings & goings of AFO
and the C-5 which arrives a day or so prior to Bush, these are amazing
aircraft for neophyte mechanic and pilot students to watch land, take
off & taxi. Our classes usually are interuptted by the C-5's arrival.
It's just too cool to watch this huge aircraft land, taxi up just
outside our hangar, raise it's entire nose section and unload the
multitude of vehicles and "stuff" that heralds Bush's arrival.

Handshakes & autographs? Out of the question. All human beings are
ordered away. The consequnce will not be an FBO denied business,
however, it will likely be a high-powered rifle bullet to the head!

Ricky

Give me a break. Has anyone been shot attempting to greet the
president? The answer is no, you might get arrested but your not going
to get shot for trying to get close to him. Presidents are at more risk
of getting shot then people approaching him. You most certainly will get
a gun pointed at you but it won't be fired.

The other issue is the presidents movements usurping public spaces and
disrupting commerce and blocking the public's constitutionally
protected freedom of movement (and the VP, and the Speaker, ad
nauseum)...
The day will come when someone will lose a contract, or some such
event, because the unannounced movements of the president and men in
dark suits blocking off public spaces. A lawsuit will result and the
government will lose - as it is a clear issue that no one has the
constitutional right to interrupt the citizenry's access to public
spaces, roads, parks, the airspace, etc... We already tossed one King
off the continent over these types of issues...

I have no desire to see the president injured, or even threatened, but
when it comes to violating my rights versus his 'possible' injury
because he has chosen to go out in public, he will have to take his
chances just like I do when I step off my porch every morning...

denny

The fighter jets were kept busy last weekend when President Bush was at his
ranch here in Texas. It seemed once every hour you would hear them come
screaming in on afterburner to herd someone away or force them to land.
There were so many incursions that the normal 10 mile no fly zone around
TSTC airport during the President's departure was expanded to 30 miles.
Even after he left for at least another hour the police were blocking
taxiways here at KACT (Waco Regional), not letting anybody taxi in or out.
Finally a GV taxied out and left (First Lady going back to D.C.?) and we
were all turned loose to go about our business.

--
*H. Allen Smith*
WACO - We are all here, because we are not all there.

"Ricky" wrote in message
oups.com...

The "Saw John Trovolta's Plane" thread got me thinking about
inaccessibility of celebs but nothing compares to the way Bush is
protected from us normal folk!

I'm an A&P student here at Texas State Technical College and our
campus is the old James Connally Air Force Base (Waco, TX.). When Bush
goes to & from Crawford, Air Force One lands & parks here as Waco
Regional's runways are too short for a 747. He then takes Air Force 2
(big helicopter) out to or from his ranch, flanked by several other
mean looking choppers as well as identical decoys, I assume.

Denny wrote:
The other issue is the presidents movements usurping public spaces and
disrupting commerce and blocking the public's constitutionally
protected freedom of movement (and the VP, and the Speaker, ad
nauseum)...
The day will come when someone will lose a contract, or some such
event, because the unannounced movements of the president and men in
dark suits blocking off public spaces. A lawsuit will result and the
government will lose - as it is a clear issue that no one has the
constitutional right to interrupt the citizenry's access to public
spaces, roads, parks, the airspace, etc... We already tossed one King
off the continent over these types of issues...

I have no desire to see the president injured, or even threatened, but
when it comes to violating my rights versus his 'possible' injury
because he has chosen to go out in public, he will have to take his
chances just like I do when I step off my porch every morning...

denny

Security around the President is hardly a new thing.

But while sovereign immunity has been reduced much over the years national
security issues is one place where it still carries some weight and I see no
court deciding that protection of the President should be secondary to some
commercial loss.

On Aug 30, 5:30 am, Denny wrote:
The other issue is the presidents movements usurping public spaces and
disrupting commerce and blocking the public's constitutionally
protected freedom of movement (and the VP, and the Speaker, ad
nauseum)...
The day will come when someone will lose a contract, or some such
event, because the unannounced movements of the president and men in
dark suits blocking off public spaces. A lawsuit will result and the
government will lose - as it is a clear issue that no one has the
constitutional right to interrupt the citizenry's access to public
spaces, roads, parks, the airspace, etc... We already tossed one King
off the continent over these types of issues...

I have no desire to see the president injured, or even threatened, but
when it comes to violating my rights versus his 'possible' injury
because he has chosen to go out in public, he will have to take his
chances just like I do when I step off my porch every morning...

denny

Funny you should mention that. President Bush's recent visit to
Seattle delayed me over an hour while I was on my way to the
pharmacist. What if it had been an emergency and I had died? There
were no alternative routes due to the constrictions of lots of water
and narrow bits of land in the Seattle area.

The Southcenter Mall was virtually shut down for hours. The entire
mall! Because the police had blocked off *every* road that led to it.
You probably could have fired a cannon through there and not hit
anyone. Bush was not anywhere near the mall except for two periods of
less than five minutes as he traveled the freeway nearby.

In fact, people have been killed by Presidential motorcades, some
recently. These things are dangerous. The Secret Service really needs
to work on the disruption and hazards to safety caused by their
security. Just because the SS guys are willing to take a bullet for
the President does not meant that everyone else in the country feels
the same way.

Ricky writes:

It is also fortunate that the general public can walk up to AFO while
it's parked at the tower and get just about right under the wingtip,
outside of the rope which surrounds it. This truly is one beauty of a
747. Photos are welcomed as well during this time.

Why is this fortunate? Isn't the USA still a democracy? Is there some reason
why you _shouldn't_ be able to do these things? Is the President a civil
servant or a deity?

I have heard stories of student pilots trapped out in the TSTC
practice areas in the 95-100 degree Tx. sun in their 152s or Katanas
while Bush comes & goes, even having to divert to Hillsboro or Mexia
due to fuel concerns.

They can declare an emergency if necessary, which takes precedence even over
the President.

Handshakes & autographs? Out of the question. All human beings are
ordered away. The consequnce will not be an FBO denied business,
however, it will likely be a high-powered rifle bullet to the head!

If you are commanded to genuflect or salivate, do you do that, too?

Gig 601XL Builder writes:

But while sovereign immunity has been reduced much over the years national
security issues is one place where it still carries some weight and I see no
court deciding that protection of the President should be secondary to some
commercial loss.

Why not? The USA is a democracy, and the President is only one part of a
government that employs a balance of powers. This being so, there's a limit
to the President's importance to the nation, and therefore a limit to the
measures that can reasonably be justified to protect him. The constant
inflationary spiral of these measures has to stop somewhere. Bringing a city
to a halt is not really justified, not even for the President.

On Aug 30, 12:26 am, Ricky wrote:
I'm an A&P student here at Texas State Technical College and our
campus is the old James Connally Air Force Base (Waco, TX.). When Bush
goes to & from Crawford, Air Force One lands & parks here as Waco
Regional's runways are too short for a 747. He then takes Air Force 2
(big helicopter) out to or from his ranch, flanked by several other
mean looking choppers as well as identical decoys, I assume.

First, if it has the president, it becomes Air Force One, whether it's
a fixed wing, rotorcraft, blimp, or balloon...unless it's under the
Marines, in which case it's Marine One, or the Navy, making it Navy
One, etc.

Air Force Two would be the VP's aircraft.

Austin

"Denny" wrote in message
ups.com...
The other issue is the presidents movements usurping public spaces and
disrupting commerce and blocking the public's constitutionally
protected freedom of movement (and the VP, and the Speaker, ad
nauseum)...

It doesn't matter WHICH president it is. They always seem to come through
Portland at rush hour, and the secret service doesn't want to publish the
route so pretty much everything is jammed.

Way to get my support: Make the entire city sit in traffic because you
couldn't come in at midnight when the commuter freeways were wide open.

-c