This restricted area is one that I have worked strenuously to avoid over the last few years. It is a 3 mile Prohibited area when the President is not at the ranch, but expends to a 30 mile radius Restricted area when he is there.
Sadly, I might not have worked hard enough to avoid it on a flight to Port Aransas last Saturday, for I found myself greeted by an F-16 on Saturday afternoon while flying to Fredericksburg from Lancaster. What happened next will be summarized in future blog postings.
Lesson #1 - join the AOPA Legal Services Plan. It may be the best $39 you will ever spend.
More news as this unfolds. The good news is that I am alive and well, so is my passenger, the plane and me are not grounded, and I will continue to fly until (or if) the FAA applies any sanction to me. However, I do not expect to be flying anywhere near P-49 in the future.
UPDATE - After exchanges of letters with the FAA, they wrote to me in early December that they intended to suspend my license for 60 days. Since I am currently grounded for medical reasons (I was taking a drug of which the FAA disapproved, and I have to wait 90 days before I can renew my medical certificate) I decided to not appeal, and sent them back my license. I will get it back after 19th February, and since I am still working on the plane, this fits neatly with my plans. I need to conduct a biennial flight review before I can take to the air again, so all of this works out pretty well.