11 TFR intrusions over 4th weekend 2025

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PaulS

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Ok ladies and gentlemen, time to fess up, some big dumb happened this weekend over Bedminster. At a few of you must be on here. Let's hear the stories!!


 
I genuinely struggle to understand why it is so hard for people to comply with this, or any presidential TFR for that matter.
 
Nikhiln25 said:
I genuinely struggle to understand why it is so hard for people to comply with this, or any presidential TFR for that matter.
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I'll admit, I've failed to check tfr's on at least one occasion
 
Racerx said:
I'll admit, I've failed to check tfr's on at least one occasion
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I still don’t get it. May be if he showed up in a random town in Missouri and there is never tfrs there that MAY make sense.. but still then you are admitting pre flight actions are just not a thing to be done in GA world… but this is a complicated airspace to begin with and if you fly here you know it’s an reoccurrence.. so they are not getting any forms of failsafe.. flight following, notam check, weather briefing, TFR layer on fore flight?
 
Nikhiln25 said:
I still don’t get it. May be if he showed up in a random town in Missouri and there is never tfrs there that MAY make sense.. but still then you are admitting pre flight actions are just not a thing to be done in GA world… but this is a complicated airspace to begin with and if you fly here you know it’s an reoccurrence.. so they are not getting any forms of failsafe.. flight following, notam check, weather briefing, TFR layer on fore flight?
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Local pilot goes to the next airport over for lunch. Then back. Why get flight following on a short flight. Checked before the first flight.

I'm not saying I agree with it. But I can see how it happens. The VIP TFR is stupid and protects nobody. The only thing it does is highlight where he is.
 
Racerx said:
The VIP TFR is stupid and protects nobody. The only thing it does is highlight where he is.
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It does seem that the thinking on this would be different. The TFR appears to be more of a map location than a deterrent. I'm also pretty sure that anyone that considers attacking from the air is stupid enough already so obeying a TFR isn't likely to be on their list of rules to follow ...
 
Racerx said:
Local pilot goes to the next airport over for lunch. Then back. Why get flight following on a short flight. Checked before the first flight.

I'm not saying I agree with it. But I can see how it happens. The VIP TFR is stupid and protects nobody. The only thing it does is highlight where he is.
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That is how it happened to me. I was based at a small local airport north of Tampa. Went up for a quick acro practice over the beach, less than 10 miles away. My weather check was looking for clouds. My NOTAM check was looking for cones. This was 21 years ago and ForeFlight, etc. did not exist. Had I called 1-800-WX-BRIEF, I would have discovered that Dick Cheney was doing a fundraiser in Tarpon Springs. Fortunately back then TFRs were new and the FAA was more forgiving. On the plus side, an F18 looks really cool a half mile off your nose.
 
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Would love to hear the excuses from all 11. Willing to bet they all say foreflight didn’t show a TFR.
 
Daleandee said:
Is that when you began your formation flight training? :rofl:
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More like ACM training. Nobody had ever told me what a fighter cutting across your path means. My reflexive reaction was to do a steep 180. As a few PoA members who have flown with me in my Decathlon can attest, steep turns are 80+ degrees.

Once I spotted him perched above me, I circled for a few minutes, then decided to head to the airport. He watched me til I closed the hangar doors.

I confess I don't know whether it was an F18 or F16. It was big, gray, and had plenty of missiles. It also had plenty of flaps out to stay in the air with me.

But I think I coulda got the drop on him if I suckered him into a turn fight.

I called the FAA and fessed up. They said thanks for calling, you'll either hear from us or you won't. I did not.
 
Wonder what other parts of the preflight were missed
 
Nikhiln25 said:
this is a complicated airspace to begin with and if you fly here you know it’s an reoccurrence.. so they are not getting any forms of failsafe.. flight following, notam check, weather briefing, TFR layer on fore flight?
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When Trump is in Bedminster the TFRs themselves are complex and hard to decipher when when you do check, with multiple overlapping areas and times. The last time I had to fly near one of his TFRs I called a human briefer just to be sure I was in the clear. Also meet some Secret Service types on the ground, they were just checking out the local airports before the TFR start time.
 
So I'm chuckling at the idea of a pop up TFR in my current location, which is near nothing of note. I get to the hangar today for some pattern work, and I check the map out of guilt for my previous TFR sin. On Wednesday there will be a TFR less than 10 miles away for "gas venting". Go figure.

Screenshot_20250707-210131.png
 
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Maybe one day we'll evolve as a nation to the point where the two top guys/girls are just figureheads, and we can give them funny hats and put them in a slow moving plexiglass covered car to go out in once a year. Like the Pope. Or whomever the prince of England is these days.

Working on seeing how many different funny groups I can offend in one paragraph.
 
Ed Haywood said:
More like ACM training. Nobody had ever told me what a fighter cutting across your path means. My reflexive reaction was to do a steep 180. As a few PoA members who have flown with me in my Decathlon can attest, steep turns are 80+ degrees.
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I've got a fake cockpit painted on the belly of my Fly Baby for just such a case.....

Ron Wanttaja
 
Nikhiln25 said:
I genuinely struggle to understand why it is so hard for people to comply with this, or any presidential TFR for that matter.
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They are 60nm in diameter, in some parts of the country with bravo and restricted airspace makes it difficult to get around if you don’t want to talked to ATC.
 
Albany Tom said:
Maybe one day we'll evolve as a nation to the point where the two top guys/girls are just figureheads, and we can give them funny hats and put them in a slow moving plexiglass covered car to go out in once a year. Like the Pope. Or whomever the prince of England is these days.

Working on seeing how many different funny groups I can offend in one paragraph.
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If you’re looking to offend that’s weak sauce man. I know you can do better. Don’t restrain yourself.
 
Ed Haywood said:
That is how it happened to me. I was based at a small local airport north of Tampa. Went up for a quick acro practice over the beach, less than 10 miles away. My weather check was looking for clouds. My NOTAM check was looking for cones. This was 21 years ago and ForeFlight, etc. did not exist. Had I called 1-800-WX-BRIEF, I would have discovered that Dick Cheney was doing a fundraiser in Tarpon Springs. Fortunately back then TFRs were new and the FAA was more forgiving. On the plus side, an F18 looks really cool a half mile off your nose.
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I think I posted this before but it is apropos. The October after 9/11 I flew with my mother from Martinsburg to Lancaster, got a brief and knew P40 was hot, avoided it, apparently just barely (those were the days I flew by pilotage, no electronic aids). Got jumped by what I thought was an F15 or at least that’s what the t-shirt I had made said:”I got intercepted by an F15 and all I got was a lousy interview with a Secret Service Agent.” The reporter interviewing me for the story told me, “Your police report says it was an F16 and an FBI agent.” I said, “I’m not changing my t-shirt.”

FAA investigated and ruled there was no deviation. That incident, in slightly different circumstances, is related in my new book”How to Hotwire an Airplane.”

As a coda to Ed’s story, the guy just appeared in front of me in one second and was gone the next, no time to maneuver or react. I would say he was 50-100’ in front of me, i could barely see the entire plane. I think my mom thought we were in an airshow. She said, “Maybe he’ll do it again!” And I was thinking, maybe he’ll use guns.
 
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Ed Haywood said:
That is how it happened to me. I was based at a small local airport north of Tampa. Went up for a quick acro practice over the beach, less than 10 miles away. My weather check was looking for clouds. My NOTAM check was looking for cones. This was 21 years ago and ForeFlight, etc. did not exist. Had I called 1-800-WX-BRIEF, I would have discovered that Dick Cheney was doing a fundraiser in Tarpon Springs. Fortunately back then TFRs were new and the FAA was more forgiving. On the plus side, an F18 looks really cool a half mile off your nose.
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You were in an acro capable aircraft?
You could have taken him, without breaking a sweat.
 
Nikhiln25 said:
I still don’t get it. May be if he showed up in a random town in Missouri and there is never tfrs there that MAY make sense.. but still then you are admitting pre flight actions are just not a thing to be done in GA world… but this is a complicated airspace to begin with and if you fly here you know it’s an reoccurrence.. so they are not getting any forms of failsafe.. flight following, notam check, weather briefing, TFR layer on fore flight?
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Ninety-nine percent of my flights are just local flights for pleasure. My pre-flight preparation includes walking out past the hangars to "sniff the wind," checking to see if other folks are flying (hmmm...curiously quiet, better check the NOTAMs), and looking up at the sky. Aircraft avionics includes a panel-mounted handheld and a $100 hiking GPS, neither of which notify me of airspace closures.

Live in an area with very rare presidential TFRs, but occasional TFRs for wildfires. I note either when watching the news, and check NOTAMs then.

Process has worked for 40+ years.....

Ron Wanttaja
 
Shepherd said:
You were in an acro capable aircraft?
You could have taken him, without breaking a sweat.
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Out maneuvered him? Probably.

Out gunned him? Doubtful.

I'll admit, do I call and get a full briefing for a flight around the patch, probably not. Granted due to my job, if there was anything like that going on, I'd probably know well in advance.
 
Nikhiln25 said:
I genuinely struggle to understand why it is so hard for people to comply with this, or any presidential TFR for that matter.
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People are human and the TFRs can change without warning. The airspace over New Jersey is already challenging for VFR
 
I plan and brief every flight, even if it’s just pattern work at our airpark. It takes all of a minute to check for TFRs, and conditions and NOTAMs at an alternate.
 
Ed Haywood said:
So I'm chuckling at the idea of a pop up TFR in my current location, which is near nothing of note. I get to the hangar today for some pattern work, and I check the map out of guilt for my previous TFR sin. On Wednesday there will be a TFR less than 10 miles away for "gas venting". Go figure.
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That's just the major gas venting SFRA.
 
Big TFR for disaster recovery in my area:

Screenshot 2025-07-09 at 9.18.35 AM.png

My home airfield (1T7) is right on the SE edge of it. Normal traffic pattern will put you in the TFR. Fortunately, there are procedures to operate out of it, but of course, you have to actually read and comply with them...

I intend to fly tomorrow or Friday, so hopefully I won't be a subject of discussion on this board...
 
Mileage said:
People are human and the TFRs can change without warning. The airspace over New Jersey is already challenging for VFR
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If a TFR is changed or issued during a flight, you can't be violated for not complying with 91.103 as it only applies to "before beginning a flight". Most TFR are published as NOTAMs long before their active time.
 
It is clear why GA accident rates are high as they are
 
I went this morning to clean the hangar and the plane out and saw F16 fly over twice intercepting. Heard from others there have been 2 other instances today. People really make this difficult for themselves
 
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