Flight Training - July 2024 - 8

ALWAYS LEARNING BY SARAH DEENER
Editor SARAH DEENER flies out of Frederick
Municipal Airport, situated between the
Washington, D.C., Special Flight Rules Area
and Prohibited Area P-40 over Camp David.
sarah.deener@aopa.org
PASSION AND PURPOSE
" Seven minutes. " Cleared for takeoff from Runway 23 at Maryland's
Frederick Municipal Airport (FDK), Editor at Large Dave Hirschman
began the countdown to a flight more than a year in the making. In
seven minutes, he would release the brakes, take off, and proceed on
course to the most restricted airspace in the nation.
Seated behind Hirschman in his Van's RV-4, I confirmed the time on my iPad and
surveyed the taxiway to our right, where a line of aircraft stretched and compressed
like a colorful accordion. Two RV-8s-one red, one olive drab green-joined us on the
runway, followed by such quintessential GA aircraft as the Beechcraft Bonanza and
Cessna 182. The RVs would spend much of this flight so close to us I could identify the
brand of the pilots' headsets.
Our flight of three represented experimental amateur-built aircraft in the National
Celebration of General Aviation DC Flyover, an aerial parade of 54 aircraft telling the
story of GA in a series of carefully choreographed flights along the National Mall. Our
flight would take us past the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument at 1,000
feet, through Prohibited Area P-56-almost unheard of in airspace that has long been
off-limits to all but specially authorized flights for the U.S. Secret Service and certain
government agencies. The one-hour flyover of D.C. required extensive planning and
permission from 11 government agencies, and our takeoffs were timed to the second to
pass the monuments on cue. Now all we had to do was wait.
" Four minutes, " Hirschman announced.
The seconds ticked by. Finally, 12:12:30 p.m. We took off into a light wind, and the
RV-8s joined up with us in the air. With an authoritative wing rock, Hirschman ushered
them into close formation, and they tucked in behind our wings. Farm fields and forests
drifted beneath us, and we followed the Potomac River as it plunged down Great
Falls and lazed along doglegs toward the nation's capital. Soon, the Lincoln Memorial
appeared, and we turned left to parallel the Mall. Thousands of tourists speckled the
green. I wondered: What did they think of this once-in-a-lifetime display?
In what seemed like seconds, it was over. We turned south, rejoining the river,
and headed home to Frederick. " How was it? " the controller asked each flight lead as
8
FLIGHT TRAINING JULY 2024
they exited the Washington, D.C., Special
Flight Rules Area.
Awesome.
The flyover came together because
it ignited the passion of the aviation
community and united them behind
a purpose. A team led by Mike Ginter,
AOPA vice president of airports and
state advocacy, coordinated hundreds
of security screenings, dozens of ramp
checks, and countless pilot briefings to
showcase the contributions of GA on
this national stage. Pilots flew from the
farthest reaches of the United States to
participate in the event, timed to coincide
with AOPA's eighty-fifth anniversary, and
its success hinged on their ability to follow
procedure down to the last squawk.
In the dreary week leading up to the
flyover, aircraft had arrived amid breaks
in the rain and scud and taken their
numbered places on the flight line. As the
skies cleared and the forecast brightened
for the critical hour, excitement
mounted. Even the prominent security
presence didn't dampen the mood. Secret
Service agents snapped photos. FAA
inspectors wished us luck. A TSA agent
remarked what a beautiful day it was as
he checked my ID on the flight line. In
the post-9/11 security environment, the
tension between freedom and security is
as acute as ever. The DC Flyover demonstrated
pilots could fly safely in our most
sensitive airspace without compromising
security, and it reminded us all of the
myriad reasons the freedom to fly means
so much to us.
It's remarkable what passionate
pilots can accomplish when we rally our
community behind a common purpose.
The week after the flyover, Congress
sent an FAA reauthorization bill to
the president's desk for signature. For
the first time, the reauthorization bill
contained a title dedicated to the needs
of GA pilots and aircraft owners. This
sweeping legislation touches every
aspect of flying, from increasing airport
funding to addressing the designated
pilot examiner shortage and expanding
BasicMed privileges. It took a year to
rally the necessary support behind the
bill, which was championed by Rep. Sam
Graves, an avid GA pilot and chairman of
the House Committee on Transportation
and Infrastructure. Finally, the House
and Senate agreed on the bill May 15-
coincidentally, AOPA's birthday. FT
STEPHEN SCHROEDER

Flight Training - July 2024

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