THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 3, 1996 TAG: 9601030406
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 133 lines
The head of the nation's largest general aviation organization claims that civilian pilots are being forced to fly increasingly irregular paths as the military takes more and more restricted airspace.
Of biggest local concern is the air space south of Hampton Roads across tidal waters to Wilmington, N.C., said Phil Boyer, president of the 335,000-member Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.
``How in the world, in this period of downsizing the military, do we keep upsizing the amount of airspace the military needs for practice areas?'' Boyer asked.
The answer, according to the military, is that base closings and realignments over the past half-dozen years have begun to drastically change where the military's airplanes must practice.
For example, the Navy is sending 240 of its aircraft during the next two years from bases it is closing in Florida and California to Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach.
That will put the total number of Oceana planes at about 375, only a dozen more than were there in 1989, considered the peak year of the Navy's buildup.
But new technology and weapons systems are changing air warfare tactics, requiring larger practice areas in airspace over Southeastern Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina tidal waters, the Navy says.
Boyer said the military's requests for expansions in restricted air zones create ``a possible hazard for civilian flight.''
``We can't let it get worse,'' he said. ``What will happen, and we don't want it, is there will be an accident.''
Rising from the ground to sometimes unlimited heights, as if they were growing mountain ranges, the invisible walls of restricted flight paths are required by the armed forces when they practice maneuvers over bombing ranges, parachute drop zones or other areas where civilian flights could interfere with military exercises.
When the restricted areas are ``hot,'' meaning they're being used by the military, no other aircraft may enter. When the zones are ``cold'' - not being used by the military - civilian aircraft may request permission to pass through them. Passage also is allowed during times the ranges are closed, usually between midnight and dawn.
South of Hampton Roads, military operations areas engulf the coastal Outer Banks region all the way to Wilmington, N.C. They reach east into the Atlantic and west through flat farmlands. Civilian pilots are forced to fly anything but a straight line as they climb for altitude to dodge the military's practice regions.
Commercial airliners, which normally fly at higher altitudes than general aviation aircraft, are less hindered by the restricted zones.
A restricted area in northeastern North Carolina known as ``R-5314'' includes the Dare County Bombing Range, operated by the Air Force just south of Albemarle Sound and west of Manteo.
The range already restricts civilian aircraft from flying over its eastern quadrants unless they are above 20,500 feet. Many general aviation aircraft are not pressurized and cannot fly above 10,000 feet.
Recently, the Air Force asked that the western ceilings above the roughly 40-by-10-mile rectangular range be expanded from 6,000 feet to 18,000 feet in elevation.
While the request initially was designed to accommodate Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle fighters from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, it also will be used by the the Navy's 76 additional F-14 Tomcat fighters and 163 F/A-18 Hornet fighter/attack jets being moved to Oceana as a result of base closing decisions made last summer, said Jay Barber, a spokesman for the 4th Fighter Wing at Seymour Johnson, which operates the Dare County Bombing Range.
Air Force officials said the sole purpose of the military operations areas is to give pilots airspace for training in the delivery of ordnance from a high altitude.
``The whole reason is from lessons we learned in Desert Storm operations,'' Barber said. ``In delivering laser-guided munitions, you have to pop up and get yourself away from the flak (anti-aircraft fire) and on target, then go in and deliver it.''
The Air Force said that because the range is already restricted to military use, higher air restrictions would have minimum impact on private and commercial aviation. The expanded zone would be used jointly by the Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy and Air National Guard.
``We're not going to be flying 24 hours a day down there,'' Barber said. ``There are only certain times we will be using it. At other times when there are restrictions on it, they can call somebody and find we're not in there. Then they can use it.''
That, said Boyer, is exactly what's wrong.
``What we need to get across - and we're not making much progress on it - is the management of the airspace that they do have.''
If, for example, Boyer wanted to plan a flight for the weekend, rent a plane and go to Myrtle Beach, S.C., from Norfolk, he should be able to call the flight service center in Washington and get a list of the restricted airspaces en route that are open and closed. That way he could find the most economical route, avoiding the open ranges and flying through those not in use.
``But, in reality you cannot,'' he said. ``The military knows when it is using these ranges because they are controlling them. But the FAA doesn't know because they aren't talking to one another enough.''
The civilian pilots had hoped a simple solution was being developed that would have linked the military and the FAA by computer, which the pilots could access whenever they checked on weather information or other data.
The cockpit of a light plane today has the equipment to identify military operating areas, restricted airspace, Class B, or Class C airspace, said Boyer.
Computer software readily available could pinpoint warnings to pilots when a restricted area was in use, he said.
``We were clinging on, hoping this very simple PC interface between the Department of Defense and the FAA was going into practice,'' said Boyer.
However, the project failed when the vendor chosen for it could not complete the contract, he said.
Meanwhile, said Boyer, the military continues to ask for more restricted airspace. Another recent request in North Carolina involves what is called the Camp Lejeune Restricted Area.
``It is right on top of a well-traveled airway that has existed for years between New Bern and Wilmington,'' said Boyer. So far the FAA has not approved the request.
Jim Parkman, a veteran aviation instructor in Hampton Roads, said another proposal to expand restricted airspace over Fort Pickett, near Blackstone, would again adversely affect general aviation.
``That's a big chunk of airspace right in the middle of the state,'' he said.
Boyer's organization has been trying to look at all military base closures in recent years to determine whether the restricted airspace near them also is closing.
``Without having all the details, we are finding the answer is no,'' he said. ``As we downsize we are not closing the airspace at the same time. They are still using many of the areas for practice.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color grraphic by Robert D. Voros, The Virginian-Pilot
More restricted airspace
Research by Jack Dorsey
KEYWORDS: AIRSPACE MILITARY AVIATION by CNB