Fly-In for Shuttle Launch

[Decision Altitude]

With a forthcoming trip to Florida on the horizon, im trying to get the lowdown on flying down to Kennedy Space Center. Ive heard people say in the past about "The Tour" where by ATC vector you around the area to take in the views, has anyone experience of this? How long before a shuttle launch is this stopped? Or can I assume since Sep 11 this has been stopped all together?

If we end up flying down for the launch, how large is the exclusion zone these days and for how long either side of the launch does it last.

Thanks for any advice or local knowledge,

Regards

DA

[ 26 January 2002: Message edited by: Decision Altitude ]</p>

[BRL]

Your not bin-laden by any chance are you mate.. <img src="wink.gif" border="0">

[GoneWest]

"Shuttle Tour" firmly closed - current planning is to make the entire area a permanent prohibited zone.

Exclusion zone around KSC for the last launch (first since Sept. 11th) was 40 nm radius - no "non airline" movements of any kind other than directly connected with the launch.

I actually heard one Cessna being vectored by ATC.....to Sanford airport - where the FAA were waiting for him...to revoke his pilots license. Also heard of a Sikorsky S76 helicopter being intercepted by the military and forced to land - same results for the (now ex corporate) pilot.

Exclusion zone was put into effect by notam some hours (can't remember how many) before the start of the launch window....and then, when the launch was delayed by 24 hours duw W/X it was kept in place. The 40 nm zone was finally re-opened.......THREE DAYS later.

If you wish to go by road - even bigger problems were encountered by regional drivers.

[411A]

Good advice is....keep FAR away.

[Cyclic Hotline]

I was down to watch the last launch, not only was there a massive restricted air-zone, but there were considerable ground restrictions as well. The airspace restrictions were very challenging if you happen to operate a flight training centre in the area!

For the last launch (which was delayed twice), the ground restrictions (not flight) were in place prior to the launch date and were effective for the duration of the mission.

As GoneWest stated above, they had one incursion on launch day, when a certain acquaintance of mine, was ferrying his freshly purchased Bell 214ST back to the West Coast. In the manner to which he is wont, he was blindly bimbling up the coast from Fort Lauderdale enjoying the view, when he suddenly found himself in the company of an F-15! <img src="eek.gif" border="0">

He was forced to land, where he then explained, to no doubt understanding FAA and NASA officials, (plus God can only imagine who else), that he was totally unaware of any restrictions in the area! <img src="rolleyes.gif" border="0"> Apparently they bought his reasoning <img src="confused.gif" border="0"> and no licence action was to be taken (according to the papers anyway). I will see him in the next couple of weeks, so will find out the whole story!

They are very twitchy down there, so the other advice is good advice.

Area info from the Net:. .<a href="http://www.floridapilot.com/ps_government.htm" target="_blank">http://www.floridapilot.com/ps_government.htm</a>

[Bright-Ling]

So no more pics like this then?!

<a href="http://www.airliners.net/open.file?id=142049" target="_blank">Atlantis from a PA28</a>

An awesome view. A real shame.

[Decision Altitude]

That is a true shame <img src="frown.gif" border="0">

I thought as much, but hoped there would be a way.

Failing that, where is best to view the launch from the ground?

Regards

DA

[McD]

Decision Altitude,

While it's true that you won't be able to fly anywhere near a shuttle launch anymore, you still can find many places on the ground to see quite a spectacular launch. True, you'll have to watch it from a greater distance than before, but to put it into perspective, it's an impressive sight to watch even from eastern Orlando!

If you can get anywhere near the east coast of Florida, in the Titusville/Cocoa area especially, you should be able to see the launch quite well. If you want to e-mail me with your planned travel dates, I can send you updated local restrictions as the launch date approaches. [email protected]

Best wishes!

[gear down props forward]

It is quite a shame to hear that they may impose even more airspace restrictions around the KSC (they already have a continuous restricted area for 5000' and below). It used to allow transition from north to south much easier if you could remain 5 NM to the west of their shuttle landing runway (remaining over the 'Intracoastal Waterway'), but this may soon come to an end.

I never had a chance to take the "Shuttle Tour," however, I have recently flown above their continuous restricted area on July 3, 2001. On this day, the NASA folks had 2 shuttles deployed on the 2 launch pads--a rare photographic opportunity which has happened only 13 times in the past.

Yes, I took advantage of this situation, unknown of the fact until I was right on top of the sight. Picture was taken with a 35mm film camera (a digital camera would never produce a viewable picture from 6,500 feet up and 3 NM laterally away). It now hangs on my wall enlarged to a 20 inch by 30 inch photo.

[AAL_Silverbird]

Just to let you know how nasty they might get if you had a "minor" nav error here is part of an Aviation Week & Space Technology artical dated 12/10/01. Other then this enjoy your stay!

========================

10-Dec-2001 09:38:32 pm

Security Dominates Endeavour Launch

CRAIG COVAULT/KENNEDY SPACE CENTER

The Endeavour astronauts are to complete eight days of crew transfer, logistics and EVA operations at the International Space Station this week following their launch under unprecedented wartime security.

Mission STS-108 commander Navy Capt. Dom Gorie and copilot Navy Lt. Cdr. Mark Kelly piloted Endeavour through a spectacular sunset launch Dec. 5 following liftoff from Pad 39B at 5:19 p.m. EST. Referring to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Gorie radioed just before liftoff, "Freedom rings loud and clear across this country . . . now it's time to let freedom roar--let's light 'em up." The mission had been delayed twice, initially by four days when Russian Progress docking problems occurred at the ISS, then again by weather Dec. 4. The launch was given "an unprecedented level of security . . . certainly appropriate considering that the U.S. is at war and that this is an area [central Florida] we know terrorists did frequent," said USAF Col. Sam Dick, vice commander of the 45th Space Wing that oversees the Air Force Eastern Range.

Endeavour was protected by a layered defense. Florida Air National Guard F-16s, vectored by AWACS aircraft and FAA radars, covered the central and eastern Florida area while Florida Air National Guard F-15s patrolled the specific Kennedy Space Center area. The F-16s and F-15s were also supported by Air National Guard tankers. Although the AWACS and various ground-based radar assets were linked, the key surveillance tool for the Kennedy-dedicated aircraft was a USAF/Northrop Grumman AN/TPS-75 radar with a 240-naut-mi. range and the capability to see objects with a cross section as small as 9 ft.

That unit and its command and control personnel from the 728th Air Control Sqdn. at Eglin AFB, Fla., was deployed to Cape Canaveral, several miles south of the shuttle pad. The Cape radar also supported USAF Avenger/Stinger surface-to-air missile batteries positioned near here.

Army Apache attack helicopters formed a lower altitude layer of defense in connection with NASA Huey helicopters carrying heavily armed security personnel. One unusual move was the placement of a NASA Huey with security forces that was kept with its engine running directly at the base of Pad 39B until late in the countdown. Four Air Force Reserve HH-60s from the 301st Rescue Squadron at Patrick AFB, Fla., performed both rescue support and patrol duty.

. .Army Apache attack helicopter patrols near the 525-ft. tall Kennedy Vehicle Assembly Building as part of launch security for Endeavour.

Forces on the ground included military Humvees with 50-cal. machine guns. Ground and sea surveillance was also aided by a sensor-equipped Air Scan civilian contractor's Cessna Skymaster that patrolled the pad and coastal areas to supplement the other surveillance.

Forces at sea off the Cape included the armed Coast Guard cutter Kingfisher.

All general aviation air traffic operating on visual flight rules was banned from a 30-mi. radius of Pad 39B starting 18 hr. ahead of the launch attempts.

F-16s and F-15s diverted a private Bell 214 helicopter and a single-engine Piper that strayed into the restricted zone on Dec. 4 and 5, respectively.

Additional aircraft restrictions for other traffic extended up to a 40-naut.-mi. radius.

All these assets were linked by a locally based command and control system which has been exercised for weeks here against simulated threats to the shuttle and Kennedy Vehicle Assembly Building. The air-related local coordination reported to the Southeastern Air Defense Command headquarters at Tyndall AFB, Fla., linked to North American Aerospace Defense Command headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo. But all forces here operated under "flexible rules of engagement," allowing them to attack any potential terrorist in a time-critical manner if the shuttle and crew was threatened, one officer said.

Forces also protected the Transatlantic Abort Site airfields at Moron and Zaragosa, Spain, and Ben Guerir, Morocco. Augmenting the security was the standard shuttle airborne search and rescue force, including (in addition to the HH-60s) three Navy P-3s operating out of Jacksonville, Fla.; Brunswick, Maine, and Keflavik, Iceland; two Navy E-2Cs out of Norfolk, Va., and several KC- and HC-130s either airborne or on strip alert up the U.S. east coast.