How would you feel if you had to obtain a special squawk code every time you took off from your home airport? What if there were certain public airports you couldn't fly to at the risk of getting shot down? Sound hard to believe? That's still the case for three Maryland airports close to Washington, D.C., that have been suffering under special flight rule (SFAR 94), which has restricted airspace around the nation's capital since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. AOPA is still very much engaged in the battle to return transient operations to College Park, Potomac Airpark, and Washington Executive/Hyde Field airports. On Saturday AOPA officials, along with airport management, updated more than 140 pilots at College Park on progress in that effort and showed them how to formulate individual comments to elected officials and AOPA's petition to the FAA. Pilots around the country are encouraged to submit comments to AOPA's petition so that these airports can be reopened to all aviators. See the Web site and enter document FAA-2002-13623-1.
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