Restricted Airspace

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aggie06

Line Up and Wait
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Aggie
I'm planning to fly into KGOP this weekend for a little dove hunting, but the airport is in the middle of an MOA and just north of R-6302D. If the wind is out of the north, I'll probably need to touch the edge of that airspace. I remember the book answer is that I need permission from the controlling agency, and that is listed as Houston Center.

Realistically, what does that mean? Do I just get flight following on the way in and treat it like Class D where radio contact is permission, or do I need to hear some magic words? What about when I leave? Do I need to contact someone before taking off?
 
I doubt flight following would give you any permission, but if I were wanting to know for sure, I would call ATC and ask. I wouldn't risk entering a restricted area myself.
 
The controlling agency is in the SUA tables in the margin of your sectional.

Keep your pattern tight. Maybe practice a power off 180. A mile or two should be plenty, especially with left traffic.
 
aggie06 said:
I'm planning to fly into KGOP this weekend for a little dove hunting, but the airport is in the middle of an MOA and just north of R-6302D. If the wind is out of the north, I'll probably need to touch the edge of that airspace. I remember the book answer is that I need permission from the controlling agency, and that is listed as Houston Center.

Realistically, what does that mean? Do I just get flight following on the way in and treat it like Class D where radio contact is permission, or do I need to hear some magic words? What about when I leave? Do I need to contact someone before taking off?
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Check NOTAMs, if there isn't one indicating it's in use on the weekend then it's not in use.
 
You can look on the bottom sectional to see who you should call. It also gives you times when it is active as well as altitudes.
 
Generally it's very easy. Just call up the controlling agency at the bottom of the chart and ask if they are active. Sometimes, even if they are active you will be allowed to transition as long as you've asked permission. You should probably be talking to the controllers for the MOA anyways.

roncachamp said:
Check NOTAMs, if there isn't one indicating it's in use on the weekend then it's not in use.
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Don't rely on this, I've rarely seen NOTAMs published here for the restricted areas on the weekend.
 
While on flight following ask if the R-area is hot or cold. Technically, restricted areas do not exist when they aren't in use. So, if it's cold, no worries. Otherwise, steer around it.
 
FlightTest said:
Don't rely on this, I've rarely seen NOTAMs published here for the restricted areas on the weekend.
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R-6302D is in use Mondays through Fridays and other times by NOTAM. If it's a weekend and there's no NOTAM indicating that it's in use it's not in use.
 
Unless you fly a 747 sized pattern, you won't hit 6203D. As for radio comm, it's controlled by Houston CTR and your real problem may be getting them on the radio from north of the field. I've had trouble reaching them from up there before, and maybe it's my poor radio xmit power, but one man's opinion, just stay out of R space, make your calls on CTAF and have a nice flight. If coming from the south, divert west a bit and you can chat with Gray AAF for permission to fly though their space if you want, or just go over.
 
I'm guessing that the "Hood High" MOA is not a factor at pattern altitude -- check the base of that MOA on the sectional and see if it will be any factor at all on arrival or departure. As for the R-area, like they said, you should be able to land north just fine without clipping it, but you can also check with Gray Approach as you arrive and they'll let you know the status (Houston Center delegates the lower altitudes to Gray Approach in that area). Gray Approach's freqs are also on the sectional.
 
You could also always use something like this:
 

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Now that I have my iPad handy, I see that the Hood MOA overlying KGOP has a base of 2000 MSL, which means you'd be below the MOA at TPA.
 
Ron Levy said:
Now that I have my iPad handy, I see that the Hood MOA overlying KGOP has a base of 2000 MSL, which means you'd be below the MOA at TPA.
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And if that was not the case one could still enter the MOA under VFR without contacting anyone.
 
Get flight following and they will typically hand you off to Grey en route and they will tell you what to do.
 
roncachamp said:
And if that was not the case one could still enter the MOA under VFR without contacting anyone.
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But not, perhaps, without having to concern oneself with a bunch of Army aircraft doing God-knows-what in that MOA. Consider this another case of "what is legal may not also be smart".
 
aggie06 said:
I'm planning to fly into KGOP this weekend for a little dove hunting, ...
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Get flight following from Gray Approach Control, they'll help you stay out of trouble.

KGOP has the best self service gas pump I've ever seen!
 
Ron Levy said:
But not, perhaps, without having to concern oneself with a bunch of Army aircraft doing God-knows-what in that MOA. Consider this another case of "what is legal may not also be smart".
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I used to be the airspace scheduler at Fort Hood. Even if no airplanes are flying in the restricted area, sometime the artillery rounds and even the MLRS's are!
 
JimNtexas said:
I used to be the airspace scheduler at Fort Hood. Even if no airplanes are flying in the restricted area, sometime the artillery rounds and even the MLRS's are!
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We were speaking of the MOA, not the R-area, and I doubt there are any rockets or artillery shells flying around in the MOA.

At least, I hope there aren't -- I trust the Army to play by the rules.
 
Thanks for all the replies. The plan is to get there Friday afternoon, so I'll be sure to work with Gray Approach and keep my pattern tight if the wind is out of the north.
 
Hmmm.....some of the replies have me questioning myself on my understanding of the airspace rules for MOAs....I had the understanding that entry into a MOA was not controlled and required no permission, but to pay attention to the published altitudes for the specific activities and to be EXTRA vigilant in paying attention for military traffic and such. My understanding of the "R"'s is that one should contact the controlling agency and find out if it is hot or cold. If cold, then you are good to transit the area, if hot, not good to enter. All that of course if it is not otherwise published as to when it is in use or not. Is all this correct or have I misunderstood? I've not had the experience as of yet of transiting either one...


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Jeff, you are correct. MOAs are to separate IFR traffic from military traffic. No requirements VFR. Restricted areas cannot be entered when hot unless given permission by the controlling agency. I can usually get through R-5311 above 4,000 as an example. Ron confused you because we were in fact talking about restricted airspace, and most answers addressed R-6302D. The MOA was also discussed. Very different, and shouldn't be confused.
 
Excellent! Thanks for the clarification! Glad to know that I had the correct understanding.


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Several people said to check the notes at the bottom of the sectional. What is this sectional you speak of? How many of us actually have one for somewhere other than our local area? and how many are current?
That said, how do I get the contact info for MOA's and Restricted areas?
 
cgrab said:
Several people said to check the notes at the bottom of the sectional. What is this sectional you speak of? How many of us actually have one for somewhere other than our local area? and how many are current?
That said, how do I get the contact info for MOA's and Restricted areas?
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So to Skyvector.com, select the applicable sectional, scroll to the margin and read the notes.
 
Well, winds were out of the south, so I made a long straight-in, followed by maybe the nicest, softest landing I've ever made, with absolutely no one there to see it. The pilot lounge there at KGOP is brand new, with DirecTV and an honor system snack and drink closet. There is a courtesy car, but I didn't use it.

Coming out on Sunday was a little hairy. I took off south, turned into a left downwind, called Gray Approach for flight following as I turned toward the northeast, and flew right into the bottom of the broken layer around 800 AGL. Turned around to enjoy the DirecTV for a little while. The controller didn't seem at all annoyed that I had just called for FF and was already canceling. I ended up waiting another couple hours before launching to the northwest and flying KSEP to KLUD and finally back to KTKI. It was definitely the long way to stay VFR, and I've never told controllers no so many times because of the clouds in my way. Guess I better hurry up and get that instrument rating.
 
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