[VHFcontesting] [OT] Urgent request - probably off-topic but please read...

[Nate Duehr]

Folks, I am not a spammer by trade or by choice in normal  
circumstances, but I BEG of you to please read this.

If you are even a SMALL enthusiast of Aviation, Aerospace or anything  
related to breaking the surly bonds of earth and reaching skyward,  
PLEASE take a moment, I beg of you.

To my friends and members of:

Boulder, CO Linux Users Group
Colorado Linux Users and Enthusiasts
Rocky Mountain VHF+ Amateur Radio Group
Colorado D-STAR Association
Grand Mesa Contesters of Colorado
Amateur Radio Satellite Corporation and Mailing List
Repeater-Builder Mailing List
MIT PIC Microcontroller Mailing List
Yaesu FT-857 Mailing List
VHF Contesting Remailer Mailing List
The Internet Radio Radio Linking Project
The D-STAR Digital List

And other friends and acquaintances who will receive this message  
privately... and anyone you care to forward it to...

Tonight on my way home I fired up my iPod to listen to a podcast by  
well-known and very well-spoken Steven "Force" Tupper, an aviation  
enthusiast from Michigan. What I heard chilled my heart to the bone.

The TSA under the auspices of "Homeland Security" has floated a  
proposal to restrict and in my opinion, DESTROY numerous legendary  
aircraft, by limiting their use so heavily that you will never see  
them in the skies over America again.  While this may sound  
"alarmist", please trust me, it's not.

You all know me, and know that I can write well, expressing my  
concerns with politics, living, and even the banal things of life in  
words, fairly well -- but I can not possibly top the writing of Mr.  
Tupper.

Even more eloquent is his VOICE in his podcast, where he perfectly  
expresses the frustration, and sheer TERROR that the TSA itself has  
brought down on the United State's Aviation community with the  
proposal they've recently released, inappropriately entitled, the  
"Large Aircraft Security Program", or LASP.

For the best and most intelligent commentary I've heard on the topic  
to date -- PLEASE ... LISTEN to his podcast at:

<http://media.libsyn.com/media/airspeed/AirspeedLASP.mp3>

You really must just hear... his voice.  I do hope his server can  
handle an onslaught -- if it can't, wait, and listen later.

(I fully intend to help him with the costs associated with  
distributing his podcast if he needs it this month, it's just that  
important.  Steve, please let me know if you need assistance.  I have  
worked in data centers and web-based businesses, and I understand that  
publishing these things online to large numbers of people, is NOT free.)

It's just over 30 minutes in length, and he NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT -- even  
if you are NOT a pilot.  He gives instructions in the podcast.

If you honestly do NOT have time to listen, at least READ and RESPOND  
to his letter in response to the TSA's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.   
He needs your input by TOMORROW.  The entire text of his podcast is  
also available at the link below, if you read faster than you listen  
-- so to speak.

<http://airspeedonline.blogspot.com/2009/02/large-aircraft-security-program-capt.html 
 >

If this non-legislative rule change comes to pass, you and your family  
may never SEE many historical aircraft or have an opportunity to  
purchase a RIDE in any classic "warbird" aircraft in the skies over  
America ever again.  The rule is BROAD and affects modern aircraft  
also, but the aircraft we will miss the most, are the ones of our  
history that tell our story as a country.

To NOT take action and RESPOND means that you've let a small group of  
tireless aviation historians, restoration specialists, mechanics,  
pilots, and everyone who's ever watched an airshow with aircraft from  
the classic Warbird fleet down.  WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT.

PLEASE read or listen.  Mr. Tupper explains it far better than I  
possibly can.  The TSA's proposal adds NO security to our nation  
whatsoever. It's simply government run amok.

Here's a list from Mr. Tupper's website, of aircraft that I personally  
believe you will RARELY see in the skies of America again, if the  
TSA's "LASP" passes into being without even so much as a single  
legislator overseeing it, and little to no due-process available to  
anyone who violates it.

Aircraft and Max Takeoff Weight (Varies within Type)
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress - 65,500
Chance Vought F4U Corsair - 14,449
Consolidated B-24 Liberator - 65,000
Curtiss C-46 Commando - 48,000
Curtiss SB2C Helldiver - 16,800
Douglas A-26 Invader - 35,000
Douglas DC-3/C-47 Skytrain/Dakota - 31,000
Douglas B-23 Dragon - 32,400
Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar - 64,000
Fairchild C-82 Packet - 54,000
Ford Tri-Motor - 13,500
Grumman AF-2S Guardian - 25,500
Grumman Avenger - 17,893
Grumman F6F Hellcat - 15,415
Grumman F8F Bearcat - 12,947
Grumman HU-16 Albatross - 33,000
Grumman G-73 Mallard - 12,750
Junkers Ju 52 - 24,200
Lockheed C-60 Hudson - 18,500
Lockheed L-18 Lodestar - 17,500
Lockheed PV-2 Harpoon - 31,077
Lockheed T-33 - 15,100
North American B-25 Mitchell - 41,800
North American P-82 Twin Mustang - 25,591
PBY-6A Catalina - 64,450
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt - 17,500

You may not be a pilot, you may not even care about ANY aircraft --  
but if you care about the pilots who fly them, the mechanics who  
wrench on them, the crowds at hundreds of airshows across the country  
who see them, and the thousands of thousands who lived their lives  
building an American legacy in Aviation -- one of our best legacies  
ever -- please follow Mr. Tupper's request, and add your name to the  
list of people who AGREE with him in his response to the NPRM sent out  
by the TSA.

I, like you, am a busy person -- I had other things to do tonight.  I  
would much have preferred an enjoyable evening pursuing other things.   
Hell, I would rather have just forwarded you all a few jokes or stayed  
"on-topic" on our favorite mailing lists, but I can not sit by idle  
and watch this come to pass.

Mr. Tupper needs your support no later than mid-day tomorrow, please  
listen, read and RESPOND.

Thank you for your time, and I apologize if this is FAR off-topic for  
some of the mailing lists you all know me from.  Some lists, it's more  
on-topic than others.  This is so aggregious, so saddening, so  
frustrating, that I just HAD to share.  Like Mr. Tupper -- I'm trying  
hard to keep this message "PG Rated".  VERY hard.

I just can't think of any more caring, thoughtful people in all of the  
other hobbies and passions of my life to share this critical  
information with, and to BEG for your support of Mr. Tupper's letter  
in response to the TSA.  Mr. Tupper also points out that the rule  
isn't far from encompassing other iconic aircraft, and says that if  
the TSA enacts this rule and LOWERS the weight limitations low enough  
to encompass such iconic aircraft as the North American P-51  
"Mustang", then... as he so eloquently puts it:

"Be very careful. You might get away with decimating other grand dames  
of the skies, but every redneck, suit, line worker, banker,  
lumberjack, lawyer, cop, fireman, landscaper, fast-food cashier, and  
child able to stand recognizes the mighty P-51 Mustang. Not that  
aviation would fail to miss the other aircraft that the TSA would so  
cavalierly tear from the sky, but at least we have the P-51 Mustang  
still guarding the 12,100-pound boundary."

Thank you deeply from the bottom of my heart if you take the time to  
listen or read, and especially if you will send your full name as a  
U.S. Citizen to Mr. Tupper with your comments.

Aviation is one of my deepest passions, and I can't imagine that even  
the most disinterested person in Aviation would let these great ships  
of our past be virtually banned from our skies in a single powerful  
and misguided attempt at "security" over liberty, in this great country.

Enjoy the rest of your evening in peace, please help, and thank you  
again.

--
Nathan Duehr, nate at natetech.com

Private Pilot, Single-Engine Land (since 1991)
Aircraft Owners and Pilot's Association Member (since 1992)
Amateur Radio Extra-Class Operator (WY0X - since 1991)
Current President, Colorado Repeater Association
Former Secretary, Colorado Council of Amateur Radio Clubs
Former Member, USAF Auxiliary - Civil Air Patrol
Linux, Electronics, and RF enthusiast ...
... Or however else you know me.
--
  Nate Duehr
  nate at natetech.com