There’s two parts to the “danger” RTFirefly has raised and Dr Lao has seconded:
First of all What is a general aviation aircraft?
Broadly defined, it’s anything not military or airline. But a particular aircraft is not defined as exclusively “military” or “airline”. The military, after all, uses unmanned remote control aircraft - essentially extremely sophisticated model aircraft - up through 2 seat aircraft on up to B-52 superfortresses. Military aircraft can also by decommissioned and sold to civilians, turning a military aircraft into general aviation. A Boeing 707 is generall presumed to be an airliner - but John Travolta owns and flies his own 707, which makes that particular airplane a general aviation jet.
So yes, a Cherokee Six would most definiately qualify as a “general aviation” small airplane. And certainly, they are used for light cargo on occassion.
However, MOST of the airplanes affect by the Chicago TFR are even smaller than the Cherokee Six - because the vast majority of small planes are the 2- and 4-seat Cessnas and Pipers whose ability to haul any sort of payload is limited.
Second, What is the threat, really?
Some of you may not be aware of this, but outside of cities and suburbs, at small airfields, GA pilots occassionally indulge in something called “air drop” or “bomb drop” or “flour drop” games. When done as fun precautions are taken to ensure no harm comes to anyone or anything, and the neighbors are customarially warned so as not to be alarmed. But basically, we put a target on the ground, fly over at about 500 feet, and drop stuff out of the airplane, trying to hit the target.
I bring this up, to counteract the Omigod, they’re going to drop stuff out of an airplane! fear. Dr. Lao have YOU ever tried to drop something out of an airplane? I have. It needs to be discreet lumps, which is why when we use bags of flour we double and triple bag them. Know what happens when you try to throw a powder out of a small plane? I do. Due to the air currents around the fuselage the dust/powder comes back inside the airplane. This happens with amateurs trying to disperse cremation ashes a couple times a year - they stick the box out a door or window, up end the container, and back at the airport they’re vacuuming gramps out of the back seat and cargo area.
This is why crop sprayers have the elaborate attachments they do - to get the spray away from the fuselage. However cropsprayers are kept under observation and not permitted near cities. The equipment used to make the sprayers, attach them, and so forth is pretty closely monitored, too.
But a 4-seat trainer Cessna or Piper? I’m sorry, the likelihood of dumping a bag of anthrax over a city is near nil. You could maybe drop a bowling ball or three out of one, but while you might knock off a couple people that way it’s not a weapon of mass destruction.
As Johnny and a multitude of others have pointed out, a Ryder truck full of diesel fuel and fertilizer is a far more effective building buster than a small GA plane - yet we allow comparable sized trucks to enter cities all the time without going through a security check.
It is the big jets that are the real threats to big cities. So it is STUPID to ban small planes yet let those dangerous, potential cruise missles, to continue to fly over a large city. There are privately owned big jets, even aside from the potential uses of hijacking. It’s a big Boeing or Airbus that can take down a building, not a C172. For that matter, you could load up an airliner fuel tank with something noxious then vent it over a city, too - the big boys are MUCH more dangerous than the little guys. A fact the airlines spend a lot of time and effort trying to keep under wraps.
And let’s look at that Chicago TFR and see just how fucking useless it is for its stated purpose.
First of all, it only extends up to 3000 feet. Since the minimum recommended safe altitude over the Loop was already 2400 feet, this is a pitiful change. A small plane can STILL fly over the Loop, just that the pilot has to stay at 3000 feet. 600 feet higher. I doubt very much someone on the ground would be able to tell the altitude difference. Waivers can be had for newsreporting and, more importantly, for things such as air ambulances for the hospitals in the TFR - so there are STILL small aircraft flying, mostly helicoptors - but what is said of small airplanes also applies to them. Except, given the rotor downwash, you CAN disperse powders or liquids out of them by upending a box or bottle so really, the GA that ARE potentially Bad Stuff Dispersers are the ones still flying over downtown.
Meigs field and the lakeside VFR flyway are still open. Which means small planes will still be cruising just off shore up and down the lakefront. So… um… how are you going to STOP a small aircraft from making a 90 degree turn and a beeline for a big building? Hmmm? 2 miles offshore, traveling at 120 mph (that’s a SLOW plane), make a sharp turn, it’s 3 miles to the Sears Tower - that’s a minute and a half. In a slow plane. There are plently of 200 mph GA out there, they’d make the trip even faster. Hell, take it up to the redline airspeed you can make the trip in under a minute. *What the fuck is going to catch them?*Nothing. Unless you’re actively flying F-16 patrols over the area. Oh, wait, we have a war going on, maybe we don’t have the F-16’s to spare…
This “TFR” is a USELESS “feel good” measure that does jackshit other than inconvenience people.
Let’s look at another stupidity - requiring flight plans. This is obviously thought up by someone who has no clue what a flight plan IS. It’s not a tether. It’s a description of your intended route of travel. For IFR pilots, it gives them a slot in the instrument flying system. For VFR pilots, it lets the rescure and recovery team know where to look for airplane wreckage and body parts. THAT’S IT.
May I remind everyone of one very important, indisputable fact? Every last one of the September 11 hijacked airplanes was on a flight plan. Every one. And this did… what? I mean, how did this “prevent” problems? How did this enable anyone to intercept them? How is filing-a-flight-plan-to-prevent-terrorism supposed to work? Explain this to me, please. I really really DO want to know.
Yes, we should track airplanes around big cities. We already do, in fact. We’ve been doing it for years with radar and transponder requirements and yes, flight plans. It works very well for traffic control. It does jackshit for prevention of mayhem. Why? Because there is NOTHING you can do, short of anti-aircraft fire or SAM’s, to prevent ANY size aircraft from deviating from a flight plan. Got that?
In other words, these 3-10 mile radius, no small airplane TFR’s are useless gestures to appease ignorant and/or stupid people who’d rather have a “feel good” gesture than face the truth or pay to install REAL city defenses. Mayors ask for them, because having one means your city is important enough to inconvenience and disrupt air travel to no good purpose. It’s bullshit, OK?
Maybe you disagree? OK - then EXPLAIN how the current TFR actually does anything to protect Chicago.
