AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2013 - 16

WAYPOINTS

Coming to terms

BY THOMAS B. HAINES
Editor in Chief

Intimidating airspace an annoyance, not a showstopper
IT’S A SIMPLE Sunday afternoon flight on a very VFR
day, and yet I feel anxious and uncertain. The reason:
The Washington, D.C., Special Flight Rules Area—pronounced Sifra in FAA parlance; sounds like a venereal
disease. And some pilots in the region avoid the area as
if it were. For years, I was one of them.
Although I’ve flown general aviation airplanes
on four continents, in many countries, and in 46
U.S. states, I’m still intimidated by the SFRA, which
starts just a few miles south of my home airport in
Frederick, Maryland. And I have flown in this area
for 25 years. The restrictive cylinder of airspace went
up in February 2003 as a continuing fallout from the
September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks—attacks where
airliners, not GA airplanes, were the weapon of choice.
Yet airliners today can fly all the way into Ronald
Reagan Washington National Airport, deep inside

I’m happy to report that I, in my sinister-looking
Bonanza with some 45 gallons of avgas on board,
did not get shot down.

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Thomas B. Haines
flies his Beech
Bonanza A36 for
business and
pleasure.

the Flight Restricted Zone—the innermost part of the
SFRA; with only a few exceptions, GA cannot.
Requirements to fly inside the SFRA have been
modified a few times over the years, as has the size and
shape of the airspace, but basically today if you want to
fly within 60 nautical miles of Washington you must be
able to prove that you have taken an online FAA course.
In addition, to actually fly VFR in the SFRA, which
encompasses about a 30-nm radius of the capital, you
must file a modified VFR flight plan, get a clearance
and squawk code, enter and exit through defined gates,
and fly in restrictive routes to and from the GA airports
inside the area or when transiting the airspace. Three
GA airports deep inside the airspace are open only to
pilots who are vetted.
The FAA has shown zero tolerance for any deviations inside the airspace, including simply turning your
transponder to 1200 before you touch down.
For years, I refused to fly VFR there, instead filing
IFR even for flights to nearby airports—which always
means long and circuitous routings.
Earlier this year, I decided to stop being afraid and
give VFR a go. I retook the FAA course and actually paid

16 | AOPA PILOT November 2013

attention. I studied the terminal area chart, noted the
special frequencies to call for clearance and transponder
code before entering the assigned gates, marshalled my
courage, and flew to Manassas, Virginia, on the southwest side of the complex. I’m happy to report that I, in
my sinister-looking Bonanza with some 45 gallons of
avgas on board, did not get shot down—in either direction! I’ve made several similar VFR flights since, but
always with a certain trepidation.
The pilots whose airports fall under the SFRA seem
to fall into three categories: Those who fly frequently
and don’t see the special procedures as a big deal; they
wonder why others are intimidated. Those who don’t
fly frequently and feel intimidated and want the whole
thing to just go away. And those who simply don’t fly any
more as a result of the restrictions. I know a couple of
airline pilots who will only fly GA airplanes there IFR,
if at all, for fear the simplest infraction will cost them a
certificate action—which could cost them their careers.
And so it was with that as a backdrop that I on a
recent Sunday afternoon studied the charts on my iPad
as I prepared to fly my youngest daughter, Jenna, from
Frederick to Salisbury, Maryland, where she is a freshman in college. The route was a rather straight line
through a corridor under the Baltimore-Washington
Class B, but inside the SFRA. Regardless, the use of the
airplane was compelling—about a 45-minute flight each
way compared with a 3.5-hour drive each way.
Fortunately, the FAA has placed a GPS waypoint at
each end of the corridor—VPONX and VPOOP; I kid
you not. So the navigation is easy. Stay below 2,500
feet, get the clearance and squawk code from the “special” frequency, and away we go. Off to the southeast,
we can see the Washington Monument, Potomac River,
and Andrews Air Force Base. The FBO at Salisbury has
a courtesy car and minutes after landing, I’m lugging
clean laundry up to Jenna’s dorm room. The return trip
is as uneventful.
I wish I could tell you I wasn’t anxious about
the trip back. Maybe someday. Or maybe someday
we’ll convince the security agencies what a waste of
resources and interruption of our lives the SFRA is.
I’m not optimistic.
AOPA
EMAIL thomas.haines@aopa.org

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2013

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