Not a TFR event, but.....
It was a perfect day for flying, and my wife asked if we might go for a lunch at Easton Newnam airport. I checked the schedule of the plane, scheduled it, and I called for a weather briefing, and filed my secure code flight plan. Those have a significand delay in approval, so we drove to the airport to pick it up.
Perfect flight to Easton, lunch was as good as expected, and my wife told me that flying around the DC area was not as bad as I had been complaining.
I had filed the return trip with the original, so picked it up by phone, as required, with the customary secure code exchange. Preflight found no problems, good runup, and we were on our way.
Still a perfect day.
Cessna 1234c, VFR approved flight plan (Filed on the ground, by phone, and verified) request permission to enter the ADIZ.
Cessna 1234c, remain clear of the ADIZ. Do not call again
Woops, something is wrong.
Piper 1234p, requests permission to enter the ADIZ
Piper 1234p, remain clear of the ADIZ, do not call again.
Bonanza 1234b, request permission to enter the ADIZ.
Bonanza 1234b, remain clear of the ADIZ, do not call again.
So now there are 3 of us circling on the east side of the Chesapeake bay, no explanation, no estimated time until we might be allowed in. Time from first to last radio call, about 10 minutes.
Cessna xxxx, , there is a military aircraft dangerously close beside me, what is going on?
Cessna xxxx, you are in the ADIZ without clearance. change your feequency to -----, and follow the directions given to you.
We are now a quarter of an hour into this hold east of Bay Bridge airport.
Cessna 1234c, what WAS your destination
Cessna 1234c, filed to KCGS, College Park.
Cessna 1234c, fly direct to Tipton, no turns, and land. Contact Homeland Security there.
We turned on course to Tipton, by estimate, as we were navigating by old fashioned paper charts.
The other two planes received similar commands, different airports. Failure to exactly follow those commands results in a formation flight with a military helicopter.
Arriving at Tipton, we taxied to the main FBO, and shut down. In the office, they knew nothing of any Homeland Security personnel at Tipton.
Walking to the second FBO, I stopped at a traffic cone for a pot hole, and placed my small pocket knife under it.
The second FBO also was unaware of any Homeland Security presence on the field, but called them to find out. They were informed that an Officer had just been detailed to Tipton for a search of a possible terrorist aircraft, do not allow it to leave,
Eventually she arrived from BWI, in her personal car, parked in the employees parking lot, a shuttle bus ride to get it. She searched both my wife and myself with a magnetic wand, and I had to takeoff everything that caused a ring, such as my belt with metal buckle. Search completed, I recovered my keys, belt, etc, and escorted her to the Cessna 172. There, she thoroughly inspected everything on board, including the individual contents of my flight case. She then instructed me to have a piece of paper ready to write down my secure code for my flight plan to Collège Park It is now more than an hour since we called for permission to enter the ADIZ.
The code was given to her verbally, repeated to us, we wrote it down and read it back, and confirmed.
When she closed her conversation with security, I asked to borrow her phone to file the required new flight plan.
NO! THIS IS FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY! She then stalked off to her car, and drove away.
When she was out of sight, I recovered my pen knife, walked to the second FBO (They had been friendlier), and used their phone to file the new plan, WITH THE MILITARY not the FAA. If we went down short of CGS, there would be no search. The plan became invalid in 15 minutes, and required activation before reaching 1,000 feet.
After one of the shortest pre flights, taxi and runup, were were in the air and active. The rest of the flight home was very ordinary.
As I tied down the Cessna, my wife said she now understood why I had said that flying around the DC area was no fun anymore.
The return flight took a total of more than two hours. The day I received my PPL at Easton, with Mr. Newnam, the flight over was 40 minutes, and the flight back was 40 minutes, in a Cessna 150.
