He isn’t be funniest guy in the White House, but he gives me the most laughs.
Sicky-Dicky now has his very own no-fly zone for his house in St. Michael’s MD. It extends out a nuatical mile in radius and up 1500 feet.
So says an article in today’s NY Times, “Don’t Fly Over Cheney, Weekend Pilots.”
“Last week, private pilots complained that the no-fly zone for the vice president’s new home on the Chesapeake Bay — imposed indefinitely the week before — severely clipped their wings.”
According to the article, governors of several states requested such zones over their nuclear reactors but were turned down. And unlike such protection for other VP’s, Cheney’s no-fly zone is in effect even when he’s not in residence.
“The private pilots object mostly because it’s so easy to stray into the zones. Violations nationwide occur more than 1,000 times a year. ‘There’s not a big red line drawn across the landscape that a pilot can see,’” Ms Brown (FAA Spokeswoman) noted.
“And why are their itty-bitty planes a problem anyway, the private pilots wonder? A bumper sticker seen in airport parking lots sums up their derision:
‘I fly a Cessna 150, the Mighty Airplane that Brings Cities to Their Knees! Fear Me…2 Seats, 26 Gallons of Gas, 100 HP and 90 Knots of Screaming Terror!’”
[Emphasis added]
Be chartible to our V.P. He could have a very good reason for this. He could be doing it out of kindess. Maybe he sunbathes on the patio nude. Who would want to fly over and see that?
Oh, let’s be nice to Cheney. I think we should all pitch in and get him a huge portion of pork ribs. And some paté. And lots of espresso. And two dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts every day. And a big jack-in-the-box that pops out unexpectedly.
Those dinky little restricted airspaces really get on my nerves.
In even a slow aircraft (60kt cruise), it would take at most 2 minutes to make it all the way through the airspace, at its widest point.
There’s a nearly identical airspace in the city I live, due to a prison (Grand Valley Women’s prison). Considering that it’s within the class C control zone, and they keep all traffic above a certain height (2500’… The restricted airspace goes up to 1500’)
The only thing it does is prevent the use of a nearby park for use by hot-air balloons… Which also happens to be the only park in the city suitable for morning launches.
If live in the country and you really don’t want pilots flying at a low altitude overtop, paint your (barn) roof yellow and black stripes…That’s the sign for a mink farm, and pilots legally have to avoid it… plus it looks snazzy. If you live in the city, your’re SOL.
