If you do try the 400' flight in from Mexico, it better be when they have
the aerostat radar balloons at Ft Huachuca and Columbus out of the air for
maintenance or to avoid storms. At other times the aerostats are up on
their cables looking down at the airspace to catch any low level border
crossers.

--
Best Regards,
Mike

http://photoshow.comcast.net/mikenoel


"Marc J. Zeitlin" wrote in message
...
Douglas Paterson wrote:

1) I've never flown this close to a national border under VFR or in
GA; anything I need to know?

Not unless you fly 747 or SR-71 sized traffic patterns.

... If I somehow manage to inadvertently cross it, are there any negative
consequences?

A couple hundred yards, in what's obviously a traffic pattern, and a
re-entry into US airspace and a landing - almost certainly not.
They've got you on radar, or on TV cameras, or in binoculars at the
eyeballs of the border agents in the black SUV's.

... Put another way: what's involved w/ crossing an int'l border under
VFR?

If you land, a lot (in theory). Although I'll tell a story at the end
of this message. If you don't - probably nothing, if it's a tiny
incursion.

.... Whazzat?? Some sort of TRSA-like service from Holloman AFB, I'm
guessing?

That would be my interpretation as well. Black is TRSA.

... Is it mandatory or voluntary?

TRSA's are voluntary (VFR).

... "for climb in visual conditions: cross Dona Ana County at Santa
Teresa Airport at or above 6800 before proceeding on course." What
exactly does that mean?

Good question.

... I'm guessing "circle as required overhead the field until
reaching 6,800', then on course"...

Given that there are hills around up to 7K ft, that would make sense.


So the story:

I fly into Bisbee, AZ (P04) semi-regularly to visit friends that live on
the airport. In 2006, we flew down for Thanksgiving on Thursday, and two
other couples were flying in as well. One arrived before us - we arrived
late afternoon, and the last couple was flying down from mid-AZ in their
C-152. They stopped at Ryan Field near Tucson to get gas, called to let
us all know, and then continued. From here on, the story becomes
COMPLETELY hypothetical.

It should have been just about an hour from Ryan to Bisbee in the C-152,
but after about 90 minutes, we still didn't see them. Another 1/2 hour
and we got a cell phone call that they were on the ground at an airport
that they had THOUGHT was Bisbee, but wasn't, and they didn't know where
it was, but they thought they might be in Mexico. Not good, we think. We
also think "it's a 150 mile visibility day, with a GPS and VOR in the
plane - how the F*ck could they get lost? Follow I-10 to Bensen, take a
right to Tombstone, fly over the hills, past the big empty mine pit, and
land at Bisbee."

Anyway, our hosts thought that they knew what airport they might be at
about 20 miles over the border from the description they could get from 3
or 4 broken cell phone calls. The hosts told them to stay put and that
they'd drive down to find them. They went over the border at Naco and
headed south. It turned out that they WERE at this little paved strip in
Mexico, surrounded by a few locals and cops. Back at the ranch, we were
hoping that the host would NOT get in the plane and attempt to fly back to
the US with the guy, because we figured that they'd get arrested as soon
as they landed back at Bisbee.

But that's exactly what he did - the guy's wife got in the car with the
hostess and they drove back, while the host and the guy got in the plane
and took off, just about at dusk. Apparently, they never climbed above
about 400 ft. AGL, kept the lights off, and make no radio calls, as well
as making a straight in approach to the runway at Bisbee. We never heard
them until they pulled up at the hangar. We quickly tied them down and
went inside, expecting the black SUV's to pull up with machine guns drawn
any second - it was pretty clear they were running drugs (or illegals)
across the border, right?

5, 10, 20, 60, 120 minutes goes by, and NO-ONE shows up at the airport.
Nada, nil, zilch, zero, zip. No black SUV's - no machine guns - no cops -
no border agents - nothing.

So, the moral of the story is, if you're going to run drugs into the USA
from Mexico, you should do it right about when all the border agents are
sitting down to their somnambulistic Thanksgiving dinner, and they just
don't care. And make sure that your airplane LOOKS like a drug runner -
turn OFF the lights, fly low, make no traffic pattern, don't talk on the
radio.

Go figure.

--
Marc J. Zeitlin
http://www.cozybuilders.org/
Copyright (c) 2008 http://www.mdzeitlin.com/Marc/