AF to expand training airspace in Dakotas

[unhappycamper]

AF to expand training airspace in Dakotas
By Dirk Lammers - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Dec 4, 2009 8:35:14 EST

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The Air Force is looking to quadruple the airspace in which it can it can conduct training exercises with its B-1 and B-52 bombers stationed in the Dakotas.

The proposal would allow more military pilots to train locally, but some civilian pilots are concerned about the additional air traffic, and some ranchers worry flyovers by low-flying, 146-foot-long aircraft will spook their cattle.

The Powder River Training Complex, centered just northwest of where South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana meet, now spans about 6,000 square miles.

The space can accommodate only one or two bombers at a time, so some B-1B Lancers from South Dakota’s Ellsworth Air Force Base and B-52 Stratofortress bombers from North Dakota’s Minot Air Force Base have had to fly as far as Nevada for their combat exercises, said George Stone, Ellsworth’s airspace manager.

“You’re going anywhere from an hour, an hour-and-a-half away to do your training and then you come back,” Stone said.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2009/12/ap_airforce_dakotas_training_space_120309/