Enclosed is a letter of solution I have sent to the FAA concerning the impending changes to the airspace

over Addison Airport. As you are aware, Addison Airport contributes substantially to the economy of

North Central Texas by employing at least 1200 full time personnel and 1000 more in part time

positions. It also injects nearly $400 million annually into the immediate local economy, not including

positive effects enjoyed by the surrounding communities that rely on it. Large corporations, small

businesses, private travelers, future airline pilots, time-sensitive freight couriers and aviation students

all fly out of this extremely busy airport. Over 600 aircraft are based there ranging from two seat

trainers, to Gulfstream business jets, to one-of-a-kind historic aircraft like the B-29.

The airspace change in question would lower the ceiling of Addison's Class D (a type of airspace that

features a control tower and used at light to medium traffic non-commercial airports) from 3000 feet to

2500 feet. The reason for this change is to provide better traffic separation and flow into Dallas Love

Field, less than 10 miles to the south. While 500 feet may not seem like much, consider that these

airspace elevations are referenced to sea level. Accounting for Addison Airport's average 650 foot

elevation above sea level, this would leave only 1850 of airspace to work with for takeoff and landing.

Complications arise when FAA regulation 91.119b is considered, which requires a minimum of 1000

feet of altitude over the tallest obstacle within a 2000 foot radius over congested areas. This means after

safely taking off, aircraft in Addison's airspace only have 850 feet of usable altitude.

Compounding this issue is Dallas/Fort Worth International to the west and Dallas Love to the south.

Both of these airports are in what is called Class B airspace, which is reserved for the busiest

commercial airports in the nation. Effectively, Addison is blocked on those sides and aircraft wishing to

depart to or arrive from these directions must either fly around to the east or north or wait for a

clearance to transit DFW's or Love's airspace. Besides making operations more complicated and timeconsuming, this also creates a constant noise footprint for residents who live under these compressed

operating areas. To understand how close the airspace boundaries are, the western boundary begins at

Josey Lane and the southern boundary follows I-635. At a normal climb speed of 200mph, a jet only

has a few seconds to begin a sharp left turn when departing to the south to avoid crossing the southern

boundary. 

As it stands, aircraft inbound to Dallas Love fly over the Addison/Carrollton/Richardson area at

altitudes often below 5000 feet, and sometimes below 3000 feet depending on the time of day. Ideally

the FAA would like to have at least a 500 foot buffer between Addison's airspace and the overlying

shelf of Dallas Class B. Their way of achieving this is to lower the airspace floor for the Dallas Class B

by 500 feet. This would allow the aircraft inbound to Love to continue flying as they do today while

Addison traffic would get squeezed into an even smaller region. This is unacceptable in terms of safety,

efficiency and operational capability for all of the aircraft at Addison. 

My enclosed solution is to allow aircraft flying into Love to execute reduced power approaches that

require a slightly steeper glidepath. By doing so, aircraft passing over Addison would have more space

to operate and at least a 500 foot safety margin would exist for both groups. In addition, residents of the

area would hear less noise from airliners, as well as breathe cleaner air due to reduced fuel burn and

carbon emissions. Financially, airlines and private operators would see reduced costs due to more direct

routing, fewer delays and the aforementioned lower fuel burn. It is my hope that this and additional

solutions conceived by others can solve this airspace issue for the benefit of all those involved. 
Sincerely,

Christopher L. Williams

ASEL, AGI

chris@semperapollo.com

972-310-8114