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Civil Air Patrol completes CONR-assigned mission in advance of Democratic National Convention

TFR Poster
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FAA TFR Poster. Photo by Maj. John May (click image to view full size)
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Posters educate pilots about Temporary Flight Restrictions are now in place at 53 public use airports near Charlotte

By Maj. Don Penven
NC Wing PAO

8/28/2012–Charlotte, NC–Fifteen volunteer members of Civil Air Patrol’s North Carolina Wing used a combination of aircraft and ground transport vehicles to deliver posters as a part of a Continental U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command outreach warning of the establishment of a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) no-fly zone inside a 30-mile diameter circle around the city of Charlotte. This Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) will be in effect from Sept. 3-6. 

 
According to Mission Incident Commander Maj. John May, aircraft are prohibited from entering the TFR unless special permission has been granted. 
 
“Flights by law enforcement and Medevac will be granted clearance to operate in the TFR, but only after prior approval from the FAA has been granted.  Scheduled air carrier operations are not affected,” he said. “The ultimate goal of this pilot outreach is to educate  civilian pilots about TFRs to help avoid TFR violcations.”
 
The North Carolina Wing commander, Col. David E. Crawford, said, “These posters are visual reminders to local pilots that a TFR is in place and anyone flying should be aware of the TFR to avoid violating these restrictions .”
 
Crawford expressed his thanks to the aircrews from Asheville, Winston-Salem, Fayetteville and Concord for their assistance in completing this mission.
 “The mission was completed Saturday, Aug. 25, despite having to reschedule several sorties due to almost daily encounters with thunderstorms,” said Crawford.
 
“Forty-seven airports were visited by air and six by ground.  Aircrews flew a total of 28 hours and required 54 sorties to complete this mission,” Crawford said. “By visiting the airports and pilots, we can amplify the importance of avoiding the TFR. We put a face to the Air Force’s efforts to mitigate TFR violations. It’s costly to scramble aircraft to conduct intercepts during a TFR violation. Our efforts are aimed at reducing violations to reduce that cost.” 
 
May said many of these flights were flown as part of regularly scheduled training flights. 
 
Crawford noted that CAP’s Florida Wing had performed similar duties in advance of the Republican National Convention in Tampa.