She thought the two F-16 fighter jets were there to admire the cuteness of her plane

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/international/2011/August/international_August250.xml§ion=international

75-year-old pilot explains encounter with F-16s (AP)

6 August 2011

CHICAGO — Myrtle Rose was taking a short flight over suburban Chicago when the 75-year-old aviation enthusiast looked out her cockpit window to see two F-16 fighter jets. She assumed the military pilots were just slowing down to get a closer look at her antique plane.

It wasn’t until she landed her 1941 Piper J-3 Cub that friends and the police told her the attention was much more serious — for straying into restricted airspace during a visit by President Barack Obama. snip

Rose said she was about 30 miles from O’Hare Airport when her plane was intercepted. As the fighters appeared, she wasn’t alarmed.

‘I thought, ‘Oh, well, they’re just looking at how cute the Cub is,’ she said Friday in an interview with The Associated Press. The blue-and-yellow plane had won a best-in-class award at the Oshkosh Air Show, a huge annual gathering in Wisconsin.

Another NORAD representative suggested Rose had no business thinking that a military jet racing toward her would be in any way related to the cuteness of her plane.

[CTyankee]

1. gotta love it!

:rofl:

edit to add: read the story. She's a Republican!

double :rofl: :rofl:

[roguevalley]

19. cute comments. cute plane

[cantbeserious]

2. Sad That A Classic J-3 Could Be Interpreted As A Threat To The President

eom

[CTyankee]

6. It could have been worse actually. But really, these guys seriously do NOT

screw around. And they shouldn't.

[hlthe2b]

3. Thank heavens these guys are so well trained....

In the knee-jerk reactionary TSA world, she would likely have been "dead meat".

[HipChick]

4. Sorry..but I dislike not so smart women

Please take away her flying ability..stat

[pennylane100]

10. well at least she is not drunk like some of her commercial pilots.

just because she made a cute answer to her mistake and she is 75 you want to treat her differently than all the young and stupid pilots that make mistakes. At least give her the benefit of the doubt. She will probably have to take another test to keep her license. Let us see if she fails it before judging her.

Agism remains th last form of bigotry on this board.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

12. Some one flying at 75 is still pretty sharp...

In context she was probably being sarcastic or funny.

When POTUS comes into an area, it screws with the airspace quite badly. Most likely she did not check the NOTAMS for the SFRA

[MilesColtrane]

5. She probably had her turn signal on since takeoff too.

[originalpckelly]

7. And the parking brake too!

Don't forget that.

I know I do, and I don't even drive. :P

[Snotcicles]

8. Yeah the left one. nt

[cordelia]

9. Ha! That would be my mom (love her so much)

[RamboLiberal]

11. cute story - hope they cut her a break & don't suspend her license

I've read plenty of stories of GA pilots wandering into restricted airspace.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

14. THe FAA airspace systems is quite complicated, throw in a POTUS visit and it becomes a real mess

Before you fly you are supposed to check for any NOTAMS or SFRA that have suddenly sprung up. A clear inadvertent like this might get you probation with some additional training requirements.

[elehhhhna]

13. best op title ever infinity

[ProgressiveProfessor]

15. Minor technical point...F-16s fall out of the sky well above the cruise speed of a Cub

[leveymg]

16. Easy to understand. The 75 mph cruising speed of a J-3 is about half the stall speed of an F-16,

She probably couldn't even see the hand signals of the F-16 pilots as they went zooming by her.

[bvar22]

17. I love her!

75 tears old, and flying a J-3!
one of the best flying & safest planes ever made.

Back in the 60s, I learned to fly in a Super Cub, which is a J-3
with a bigger engine.
No radio, grass strip...pure fun and enjoyment.

This is about as close to the essence of flying as one can get,
and requires a PILOT, not an operator.

She probably didn't know that Obama was in Chicago,
and probably didn't care.


Myrtle Rose, I salute you!
for knowing HOW to LIVE!
:patriot:

[dems_rightnow]

18. I woulkd have...

.... signaled a left turn, then took a sharp right. They'd have never figured out where I went.

[Remember Me]

20. And I'm going to suggest the NORAD representative

just stuff a sock in it.

To Rose: You go, girl.

[defendandprotect]

21. That must be where we went wrong on 9/11 ....

the highjackers didn't come in "cute" planes --

If anyone had told us that the Russians had done 9/11 we'd still be ROFL --

ANYONE BOTHERING TO ASK WHY NORAD WAS AWOL ON 9/11 --- ???