>>Timebuilder - glad you didn't take it personally. I wasn't even haven a go at your choice of words - then again, maybe I was
you know what I meean.
First, sorry about the Foster's. I'll defer to your choice of Crown Lager.
I try to take
nothing personally here. Aside from our semantic digression of
rights versus
privilege, here is a capsule of my intention with this thread, which apparently was unclear:
Keeping OUR skies safe and free of further regulatory encroachment is a responsibility of every pilot, from the largest to the smallest aircraft flown. Simply flying in a manner which is
permitted rather than
optimal is unwise, and opens the door to bad press and more regulation of aviation at the least, and fatal accidents at the worst.
It was suggested that the turbine aircraft change their mode of operation to increase safety. The fact is that most turbine activity happens as a result of directives from ATC. Pilots make requests, certainly, but they are often turned down in order to fit the ATC agenda.
Some pilots will be unconvinced that there is any merit to what I have said. That's fine. The goal is to minimize the number of pilots who have a hazardous attitude(s) and to increase the number who look ahead to consider the consequences of their actions.
While it is a legal act to fly over and near busy airspace without remaining in contact with ATC, it isn't the safest course of action, for anyone. While it was legal for our wandering 182 to take off and fly VFR over the DC class B, the fact that he had to divert for weather while in a crossword puzzle of controlled airspace suggests that a more thorough preflight plan might have kept the entire incident from happening, and out of media attention. If he had filed IFR, he may still have had to take the same action to avoid the turbulence of the remaining buildups. Legal? Yes. Smart? Maybe delaying his takeoff would have been the best approach.
I'm just as happy on the days I burn 100LL. That's my "fun fuel". I don't want to lose the "privileges" I have because of a preventable event.