29 Palms Airspace Expansion Update

[billhelliwell]

Last June I brought to your attention the Marine Corps has been studying expanding the airspace and ground space they use at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, 29Palms, CA. Their plan was to have a draft proposal ready for public review by last fall. That schedule has slipped a few months. They have recently selected a preferred alternative and public hearings have been scheduled. Information on the project can be found at

http://www.marines.mil/unit/29palms/las ... fault.aspx

The schedule for the public hearings can be found by selecting

Press Releases

and then

Draft EIS Study Available 24 Feb 2011

This will take you to

http://www.marines.mil/unit/29palms/LAS ... MCAGCC.pdf

Meetings will be in Joshua Tree, Ontario, and Victorville.

I plan to go to the one in Ontario on Wednesday, April 13, 2011, 5 to 9 p.m at the Ontario High School Gym, 901 W. Francis St.

There aren't many flights that come near the existing military air space as it is now. However, some of those flights have been in the new proposed restricted air space. At the very least we need to make the Marine Corps aware that we sometimes fly in the 29 Palms area. There needs to be an easy way for us to find out when particular air space and ground areas are restricted. We need to impress on them the need to keep those restrictions limited to when they are actually using the airspace.

If any of you can bring a flight log showing a flight in the proposed air space that would be great. It could be that none of the Marine Corps administrators have any idea how high and how far we fly.

Bill Helliwell

[stebbins]

.....It could be that none of the Marine Corps administrators have any idea how high and how far we fly.

Bill Helliwell

This is highly likely to be the case.

[billhelliwell]

On Wednesday evening, 13 April, I went to the Marine Corps open house public meeting in Ontario. I was able to talk with a couple of pilots about hang gliding and paragliding in the 29 Palms area. I had with me several flight tracks that pilots had sent to me. (Thanks) The airspace plan is by no means final. It is possible that we could have some influence on what the FAA eventually accepts for the airspace plan. Submit your comments via the internet by going to

http://www.marines.mil/unit/29palms/las ... fault.aspx

and clicking on the Submit Public Comment box.

To see the current plan click on "Public Info Brief" on the left side of the above web page. The airspace plan in that brief is the correct one. Other maps on the Marine Corps web site show a plan going several miles farther south. Those other maps will be corrected sometime soon.

The proposed restricted area R-2511 will be used for live ammunition exercises. There could be unexploded ammunition anywhere in there and most of the area is always closed. A small southern piece of R-2511 will be periodically completely cleared and will sometimes be open to the public. This is probably in response to the protests by the off-road folks who have used that area for years.

The proposed Johnson Valley MOA/ATCAA extends south to the northern edge of Pioneertown. So landing in Pioneertown would be fine anytime.

When the MOA/ATCAA is active I don't think we are allowed in. If it were just an MOA then we are ok, however I wouldn't want to be flying with jets going Mach 1. The issue is it is also an Air Traffic Controlled Assigned Airspace. So unless a pilot is in contact with air traffic control and can do what he is told to do, then I don't think he can be in the area. But I look for clarification.

If an MOA is not active we can fly there with no problem. An active time will be posted as a NOTAM.

There is a flying site a few miles northeast of Joshua Tree. This site is not in the current MOA. It is in the Proposed Sundance MOA/ATCAA. The restricted airspace would start at 1500 agl. I know pilots who have flown there and been 3000 agl.