Generally I steer way clear of temporary flight restrictions, which means that I’m grounded any time the president is in town. And generally when the president is in town, I am aware of it days in advance. But recently, when President Obama was visiting the Los Angeles area, I had no idea until I was on my way to the airport and got on the phone with Lockheed Martin Flight Service.
This is a phone call I make out of habit to ensure that there are no last minute TFRs or notams that will affect my flight and that the weather observations have not changed significantly from my initial check. At least nine out of 10 times there are no TFRs along my route of flight. If there is one it is usually for a fire, which is easy to avoid.
