Temporary MOA

Published in AOPA ePilot: VOLUME 15, ISSUE 9 — March 1, 2013

The U.S. Air Force is requesting to establish a temporary military operations area (TMOA) in northern Michigan from Aug. 5 through 16 in support of Exercise Northern Strike, a training exercise that will include abrupt maneuvering from the AH-1/UH-1, UH-60, A-10, F-16, and B-52.

The Grayling TMOA would be established between the Grayling Aerial Gunnery Range (R-4201A/B) and Pike West Military Operations Area from 5,000 feet msl up to but not including Flight Level 180. It would be active from 8:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. Central Daylight Time and other times by notam.

This would render V78-609 unusable to IFR traffic during the TMOA’s active times. No other Victor airways would be negatively impacted. Because pilots often voluntarily avoid flying in MOAs, the Grayling TMOA would force pilots to make large detours during the busy summer flying season.

AOPA is requesting that the Minneapolis Air Route Traffic Control Center and Air Force work together to mitigate the impact the TMOA could have on GA pilots. So that the FAA can have a better understanding of the impact this airspace would have on operations, pilots are encouraged to submit comments about the effects on their personal flying to Manager, Operations Support Group, AJV-C2, Airspace Study 13-AGL-06NR, Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, 2601 Meacham Blvd., Fort Worth, TX 76137. Please copy AOPA on any comments. Comments are due April 1.