The folks at the 27th Special Operations Wing (27 SOW) at Cannon AFB have proposed a new Low Altitude Tactical Navigation (LATN) area that will cover most of the northern half of New Mexico and the southern one third of Colorado. This training area is for low altitude (under 200 ft AGL) high speed ops in any mountainous area in the specified two-state region.

The following message went out from New Mexico Pilots Association President Joyce Woods. This could be a very big deal for all of us in the Southern Rocky Mountains. Please read it and submit your comments to 27 SOW, and contact your local Congressional reps, Governor, Legislature, and state aviation departments.

I am not going to rant that this is all bad - make up your own minds. I certainly want our Special Forces to be competent at what they do. I also don't want an effectively unlimited expansion of MOAs, when we in the western states already devote a very large percentage of our airspace to military operations. The AF proposal, if implemented without restriction, has the poteential to render general aviation in backcountry New Mexico and Colorado as patently unsafe. I don't mean to over-react, but we in GA and particularly the backcountry aviators need to be directly involved, and make sure that our state leaders are heavily involved in whatever get's implemented.

Below is a news release from Cannon Air Force Base per their proposal to create a Low Altitude Tactical Navigation Area for C-130 and CV-22 Osprey training over mountainous terrain. The proposed area covers from Cannon AFB to Albuquerque and Farmington, then north to Grand Junction and Colorado Springs, CO. It is a LARGE area of New Mexico and Colorado.

See for yourself -- these two maps show the Proposal, Alternative 1, and an explanation of the "No Action Alternative" which would restrict these activities to existing Military Training Routes (MTR):

Proposal: http://www.cannon.af.mil/shared/media/d ... 20-045.pdf
Alternative 1 and No Action Alternative: http://www.cannon.af.mil/shared/media/d ... 20-046.pdf

A detailed Q and A document is also attached.

It is important for our aviation community to provide input for this Environmental Assessment. Comments should be sent by October 4, 2010 to: [email protected]

I encourage you to send your comments directly to the above address but also would welcome your input for consideration for an NMPA response.

Joyce Woods, President
New Mexico Pilots Association
http://www.nmpilots.org

Correction to Post Title - it should read, "Cannon AFB" not "Holliman AFB:

Good grief, is it April 1 already?

From the article:

This area was primarily selected due to the topography, proximity to Cannon AFB, and lack of a large civilian populations[sic].

Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Farmington, Pueblo, Colorado Springs, and Grand Junction (all within the proposed area) lack a large civilian population?
Grand Junction (over 400 miles away) is in proximity to Cannon AFB?

I suspect they're asking for an absurdly large area so that when they're told to cut it down, then the original area that they wanted will seem reasonable and get approved.

nmflyguy wrote:Correction to Post Title - it should read, "Cannon AFB" not "Holliman AFB:

And another thing. It's spelled Holloman, dammit!

Geeze, why don't they just ask for the whole Rocky Mountain region from MT to NM?

This seems a bit extreme.

As long as they are MOA and I can fly in them any time I want, I don't have a problem with jets wizzing by me at mach 2. Someone tell me why I am wrong?

Cheers

RobBurson wrote:As long as they are MOA and I can fly in them any time I want, I don't have a problem with jets wizzing by me at mach 2. Someone tell me why I am wrong?

Cheers

I was thinking the same. Just glad your the first to mention so. If the military was considering to restrict all that airspace, then that would be a whole different story!

Last I checked, your legal to fly through most any MOA. Just gota be on the look out for high speed jets wizzing by you

this wouldn't be fast jets....would be Ospreys, and rotorheads very low AGL.