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Most outstanding, Leslie! You captured the whole deal in a conscise and clear manner. I hope someone in power takes it to heart. Spook --- N161LH 3B9 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > ----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm > before following any advice in this forum.]---- > > > Hi 'Coupers -- > > I sent the following to my local chapter of the > ACLU, and cc'd the Chicago > branch. I'm not always fond of the ACLU, but I > think we need allies. > > Leslie > > ------------------------------------------------------------------ > > I am a recreational private pilot. Since the > bombings of the WTC, private > pilots have been watching our freedom to fly erode > bit by bit. Never mind > that none of the terrorists was a certificated US > pilot, or that no > terrorist acts were committed with private planes, > we're being painted as a > dangerous fringe element. Most recently this has > culminated in Mayor Daley > of Chicago bringing in demolition equipment to > historic Meigs Field in the > middle of the night and tearing up the field, thus > stranding sixteen planes > there. Apparently, the Mayor felt that public > debate on this subject is not > required. > > Flight restrictions have been increasing as well. > While the need for > heightened security is certainly understandable, > what the general public > doesn't understand is that sometimes these > restrictions are not well > publicized, and should a private plane stray into a > restricted area, you > will have an Air Force escort home, and the FAA and > law enforcement > officials waiting for you when you land. Also, the > TSA is now able to > revoke any pilot's certificate for security > concerns, without the possiblity > for appeal. While that would certainly break my > heart, for others that > would represent the loss of their livelihood. > > Pilots are easy to pick on; we're less than one > quarter of one percent of > the general population, and flying is not well > understood by many people. > People often think we're a bunch of rich nuts. > Well, I can assure you I'm > far from rich. I've given up movies, vacations, and > much discretionary > spending just so I can scrape up the money to fly. > It's a real challenge to > get your pilot's certificate; it takes a lot of > determination, study, and > expense. I consider it one of the great > accomplishments of my life, right > after motherhood and at least equal to or maybe more > important to me than my > college education. The United States is one of the > very few places in the > world where it's still feasible to be a private > pilot, and we're losing that > by inches every day. > > When you want to fly, it gets into your very marrow; > it is the dream of a > lifetime for many of us. We have to go through > regular medical exams and > ongoing flight reviews to keep doing it. We study > and scrimp and save just > for the chance to be airborne, and in a heartbeat it > can all be snatched > away because the current administration needs to > make it appear that > something is being done to make us "secure". I, for > one, feel far less > secure knowing that my government doesn't appear to > value the liberty my > ancestors fought for. > > What I think people may be missing is that we are > seeing a steady erosion of > our personal liberties; what's next? There's been > no just cause for > restricting private pilots, just ill-informed > anxiety and an environment > that allows goverment agencies to bully the public > in the name of security. > If we were approaching this rationally, we would't > restrict planes, we'd > restrict rental vans since that's what delivered the > bomb to the building in > Oklahoma city. To paraphrase: > > "First, they came for the pilots. And I said > nothing because I was not a > pilot." > > I'm at a loss to know what to do about this; I've > written congressman, > senators, state representatives, etc. but they don't > appear to be > interested. We do have an advocacy group, AOPA > (www.aopa.org), but as I > mentioned, it's a relatively small consituency. Is > the ACLU doing any work > on post-911 loss of civil liberties? It would be > great if some light could > be shed on what's happening to general aviation as > part of a set of broader > concerns. > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. Get 2 months > FREE*. > http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus > > > ========================================================================== ==== > To leave this forum go to: > http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm > Search the archives on > http://escribe.com/aviation/coupers/ > > > __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - File online, calculators, forms, and more http://tax.yahoo.com ========================================================================== ==== To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm Search the archives on http://escribe.com/aviation/coupers/
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