F-16s intercept pilot, 75, in wood-and-fabric plane called Winston

[IDemo]

Source: Associated Press

CHICAGO — Myrtle Rose was just taking a short flight over suburban Chicago when the 75-year-old aviation enthusiast looked out her cockpit window to see two F-16 fighter jets.

She assumed the military pilots were just slowing down to get a closer look at her antique plane.

It wasn't until she got on the ground that friends and the police told her the attention was much more serious — for straying into restricted airspace during a visit by President Barack Obama.

Rose, who tries to fly every day when weather permits, said she had been itching to get back in the air Wednesday after a number of days on the ground.



Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44037919/ns/us_news/

[Demit]

1. Whoopsie, Myrtle. Better get your cute computer fixed.

[UpInArms]

2. the story was kind of "cute" until you get to her response

Rose returned to land on the airstrip at her home in the affluent South Barrington area. Her late husband owned Rose Packing Co., a meat packer that supplies Canadian bacon to McDonald's restaurants.

Once she was on the ground, some friends rushed over and told her that the rendezvous had nothing to do with the good looks of the plane named Winston. After the aircraft was in the hangar, her yard began filling with police cars.

<snip>

Rose, a Republican who said she did not vote for Obama, joked about mailing the president a note for his birthday.

"Oh dear, maybe I should send him a belated birthday card and say, 'You should have stayed home and Michelle baked you a birthday cake.'"

and then it appears that she is just a crapweasel who feels entitled to do whatever she wants - 'cause, you know, if you have enough money and you're a republican, it's okay and doing the you doing the wrong thing is someone else's fault.

[jwirr]

19. Exactly.

[No Elephants]

29. Good lord. A 75 year old makes a relatively mild comment, an attempt to make

a joke in crazy circumstances, and you're calling her a crapweasel. She could have said a lot worse. I can just imagine what Rahm would have said if he had been in her shoes.

[slackmaster]

33. LOL!

[JI7]

43. she was joking, i didn't hear any sense of entitlement from her

[MADem]

49. Put that smarmy asshole on the NO FLY LIST. It'd serve her right! NT

[Downwinder]

3. Isn't the FAA still shut down?

At least she was not landing on closed runways and terrorizing the construction workers.

[BiggJawn]

4. Gee, just how in Hell did people check the NOTAMS before we had computers?

Too self-important to check with the FBO for current NOTAMS, dearie?
Bet she didn't file a Flight Plan, either.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

10. Did you actually read the story and do you have an Airmans Certificate?

You call flight service for a weather brief and NOTAMS, you can do so without filing a plan.

No flight plan required for VFR operations. She was operating off a private field so no FBO. Also FBOs do not give flight briefings. NO requirement to have a radio in the plane, let alone turned on if she is in certain types of airspace. If she did not know POTUS was in town...

The current airspace system is quite complicated and when you throw in a POTUS visit, it goes from bad to worse.

[BiggJawn]

25. I was taught that it's advisable to open a flight plan

even if you're just gonna be fucking around the patch.
That way, when you're late for supper they have a starting point to work from.

Never completed my instruction. the "Ray-Gun Economic Miracle" took care of that.
I got things mixed up. I meant to say Flight Service instead of FBO. Give me a break, it's been 30 years.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

38. That certainly not what has been taught by most instructors that I can recall

[PavePusher]

52. Yeah, doubt she was going far in a Piper Cub.

As far as "starting point to work from", uhhh, random flight in the vicinity of the small airfield. Good luck with that.

[cstanleytech]

5. Well imo what makes it worse and shows that perhaps she should no longer pilot a plane

is where she said "I didn't have my radio on. I was just flying around"
That imo is totally an inexcusable act for a pilot to do.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

11. Operating NORDO is quite legal.

Most fields in the US do not have (or need) control towers. Much of the US airspace does not require two way comms with the Air Traffic Control. Unless you enter controlled airspace there is no requirement for a radio or transponder. Many aircraft can not support either of them.

Inexcusable? Hardly.

[cstanleytech]

27. I specifically said "imo"

that it was inexcusable not that it was illegal but thanks for your input nonetheless.

[Hawkowl]

32. As a professional pilot

Not having a radio in her type of plane is perfectly acceptable. She should have checked the NOTAMS though. NOTAMS will bite you in the ass every time. You would be surprised at how many incidents there are will small planes flying through these temporary protected airspaces around presidents. No big deal, but she might get her license suspended.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

44. So 80% of US airspace the rules the control it are inexusable?

She did not check NOTAMS and will get be placed on probation or suspended for a short time with a requirement for additional training. That is typical for an airspace violation.

[PavePusher]

53. Your "opinion".

Is that how we regulate/judge things these days?

How very... progressive?

[zeemike]

6. I learned to fly in one much like that.

Only older and with no nav aids or radio....an Aronca Champ.
Just loved to fly that plane.

[bvar22]

15. I learned in a Super Cub.

No radio, uncontrolled grass strip...
Required a PILOT, not an operator.
I will never forget it.
Beautiful.

75 years old, and flying a J-3!
Myrtle Rose, I salute you!
:patriot:

[zeemike]

36. Yep that was flying by the seat of your pants.

Needle ball and airspeed is all you need,...and a compass of course.
I got to talking to an old guy at the DMV and found he was 84 years old and he still flew his J-3 cub....but he mused that I guess he would soon have to give it up.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

41. The LSA rules have become a haven for us oldersters

[bvar22]

42. If more pilots in training today

were required to spend their first hundred hours in aircraft like that,
there would be far fewer "accidents" today.

[zeemike]

46. My first 40 or so hours were in an Aronca Champ.

And i got to where I could fly that little plane prety good....then I went to an Aircoop with no rudder peddles and no "feel" to it and tricycle landing gear....I hated it.

[PavePusher]

54. Second the motion. n/t

[trud]

30. I learned in an aeronca champ too

Too many knickers in a twist in this thread.

[James48]

7. I've been a pilot 31 years.

And I think what she did- fly without getting a briefing, when she knew, or should have known, that the President was in town- I think that she failed to exercise due diligence as pilot in command.

She is lucky the F-16's didn't lock a sidewinder on her.

I would have shot her butt down the instant I learned she was a republican.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

12. I agree that she should have checked with Flight Service if she knew POTUS was in town

Sound like she had just gotten back from AirVenture and may not have known.

Note that a Sidewinder is tuned for jet exhaust. It won't lock on to a GA engine. Without tone, it would have had to be a guns kill

[MADem]

50. How could she not know? Doesn't she check for notices to airmen or

things of that nature? She should do it even if POTUS wasn't in town--it's just prudent.

[jtuck004]

14. Irresponsible in this day and age.

That last comment cracked me up though. She's probably lucky she wasn't wearing a head scarf.

I am assuming she was flying at a relatively low speed, wonder what kind of power it takes to keep the F-16's beside her.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

40. The vast majority of the airspace is uncontrolled and no radio required

Not checking NOTAMS was clearly a mistake...when you live near his home base you never know when he will pop by and wreak havoc with the airspace.

F-16s fall out of the sky at Cub max speed

[bvar22]

16. I don't think a Sidewinder would track on a 65 horse engine,

LOL

I don't care HOW she votes,
I love anyone who is flying a J-3 at 75 years old.
She hasn't forgotten what is important about LIFE.

Bet you've never flown a Tail Dragger from an uncontrolled grass strip,
or landed one in a 20 knot cross wind.
THAT requires a "pilot".

[Downwinder]

18. Sidewinder would probably lockon an 18 wheeler on the freeway or

traffic from Ohare. I believe a 1941 J-3 came with a 40 horse.

[bvar22]

26. 40 horse?

Probably.
My contact with the J-3 was in the early 60s, and they were OLD even then.


Man, those BIG FAT wings that stretched out forever....<sigh>.
Even in the 60s, I could see the approaching end of something that was good.
I am grateful for the chance to have touched that before it disappeared.

The thing I really love about this woman
is that she obviously has the money to fly something more "modern",
but has chosen the J-3 as her preference.
She still gets to touch that something special from the days when pilots had to know HOW to "FLY".

Flying that plane was beautiful experience,
unless you were in hurry to get someplace.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

39. Not a modern one

Otherwise they would be decoyed by flares too easily

[trud]

31. not everybody knows or cares where the potus is

I no longer do, that's for sure. And life is much better since I e-cycled my tv.

[saras]

45. Why should she have known the President is in town? Who gives a shit? Does it matter?

There's a hell of a lot of things a pilot needs to stay conscious of. The current location of every 'important' personage in the United States isn't on the list.

"I would have shot her butt down the instant I learned she was a republican."
No comment necessary.

[slackmaster]

48. What kind of plane do you fly, and what armaments does it carry?

:hi:

[PavePusher]

55. Why don't you take a moment....

and seriously consider NOT being an asshole.

Good luck with that.

[jimmil]

8. Same thing happened at my airport..

I have a hanger on a private airport and the same thing happened when Bush came to town. My buddy and I were having a few brews and suddenly it sounded like a jet was on top of the hanger. We walk out to watch the crash and two F-16s have this old Stenson surrounded as best they could. They were doing tail stands and still weren't as slow as the Stenson. The Stenson lands and heads as fast as possible to his hanger. It wasn't ten minutes until a heard of black SUV's were hell for leather pouring into the airport. We absolutely cracked up. I could have imagined that conversation between he and his wife as he explained he was in Club Gitmo for a few years.

[octothorpe]

9. When jets dispatched because of stuff like this

Do the pilots who screwed up ever get fined or anything?

[ProgressiveProfessor]

13. Certiticate action can be taken at the discrestion of the FAA

Often it is a suspension or probation with a requirement for additional training.

[onehandle]

17. Just another over-privileged, self-important Republican tool. nt

[RamboLiberal]

20. geez many here are tough

I hope FAA goes easy on her.

[Adsos Letter]

21. "Rose...even performed as a wing walker until five or six years ago."

Wing-walking in her late 60's? :o

Politics aside, that's pretty amazing.

[RC]

24. Yeah, but,,,, but..., but...,

She is a Republican. That overrides everything else. Hang her from airport beacon! :sarcasm:

[scribble]

22. I smell a movie coming ...

Shirley McClain is the peppery old aviatrix.

She takes off in her late husband's old restored sopwith camel but the USAF forces her to land.

Big scene in the air. Helicopters. Fighters. Huge over-reaction.

She lands and is arrested by clueless USAF tools. Rahm Emanuel in a walk-on part, plays the hard-ass USAF Captain who arrests her after we see Shirley and Rahm throw two memorable, picturesque temper tantrums.

The hearing master, an old friend, apologizes as he assigns her to take additional training.

Brad Pitt is the young pilot assigned to train her.

Shirley shows Brad how to fly a real plane. She also introduces Brad to her granddaughter, Anne Hathaway; who met Rahm, and doesn't like the gummint people who treated her grammy bad.

The rest of the movie has airplane stunts, loopy one-liners, lots of drinking, visits from Shirley's picturesque old pilot friends, a little dancing from Shirley, and a petulant Anne Hathaway.

Brad and Anne work things out.

Shirley marries the hearing examiner.

Everybody flies off into the sunset together.

(I'd keep the character's original name: Myrtle Rose. It's perfect. )

[PavePusher]

56. I like this movie.

:toast:

[bitchkitty]

23. Who cares if she's a Republican?

Sometimes you have to forget about politics and just enjoy people, you know? This is a wonderful human interest story and I love it. If she's flying a plane at her age, and looking damned fit for her age if that's her photo, then more power to her. If I couldn't get past people's political beliefs and ignorance, I'd have jumped off the steel bridge years ago.

[rosesaylavee]

28. Over reacting on all sides here.

So she's flying an antique without her radio on. Did we really need to scramble a couple 4-16s? So a slap on the wrist to pay more attention to air space restrictions in the future. And her remark about him staying home - inconsequential and something even a DEM may have said if embarrassed by a alot of squads in their front yard. Trying to saying something witty under surprising circumstances.

I like that she is flying a beautiful plane around AND that she is a woman AND that she has the cash to maintain such an important part of our history.

[Red Mountain]

35. Commenting on the situation does not an overreaction make

Great plane, great that she's still flying. Some folks shouldn't be driving at that age.

Maybe she shouldn't. I'm not qualified to decide.

I think she should be billed for the cost of the F-16 scramble with the cost deferred if she completes whatever reeducation is deemed necessary and stays out of trouble for a couple of years.

She can always pay it if she so desires and avoid the classes but it should serve to wake her up either way. Not many second chances likely to be thrown her way.

Driving is a privilege. Flying is even more so.

[rosesaylavee]

51. Disagree.

Some people shouldn't be driving or flying at 16 or 25 or 35. Her abilities were not in question despite her age being mentioned. (How's that ageism going for you?)

The F16s were probably out there anyway and are scrambled plenty for many things. However, to continue to flank her and for multiple police squads to be sent to her place after she touched down was some higher-ups decision and that should be questioned given the cost and time incurred.

She made a mistake but it was a reasonable one to make. I think her one sin here is that she made a remark about the President and votes Republican. Those two things are the least of our worries at this point so that's why I noted the over-reaction here.

I firmly believe we need to pick our battles and some 75 year old pilot who has the oppty to fly an antique out of her own field is NOT the problem. I am very thankful that the private pilots are keeping aviation alive at this point - no matter their political beliefs.

[libodem]

34. And yet

No scramble on 9/11. Strange.

[boppers]

37. Wrong. We scrambled on 9/11.

What makes you think otherwise?

[LeighAnn]

47. Yeah, like, an hour later

In the case of the Pentagon, it was only after both World Trade Centers were hit and a third hijacked plane was known to be heading for DC that the military dispatched fighter jets from Langley, 130 miles away

[PavePusher]

57. Yeah, because everyone knew what was going on....

or should have known.

Because their clairvoyance should have been working. Or something...

[boppers]

60. Uh, no. Unofficial scramble notices started going through the chain within *minutes*.

A minute by minute timeline:
http://www.historycommons.org/timeline.jsp?day_of_9/11=dayof911&startpos=100&timeline=complete_911_timeline

[KansDem]

58. No doubt she too thought the attackers on 9/11...

...were "one terrible pilot."

But now she believes they were sent by Sadaam...

[Proles]

59. Guess she didn't check her NOTAMs...