C172 PLT; ENRTE TO I73 ARPT; TRANSITS DAY AIRSPACE IN VIOLATION OF A TFR.

Narrative

MY FLT BEGAN AT MORAINE AIRPARK (I73) DAYTON; OH; WITH A SHORT FLT TO MIDDLETOWN; OH. MIDDLETOWN IS LOCATED ABOUT 30 MI FROM DAYTON. AFTER LUNCH; I FLEW BACK TO I73. DURING THE FLT; MOST OF WHICH WAS CONDUCTED AT 2500 FT MSL; I FLEW THROUGH THE WILMINGTON CTL ZONE AND CONTACTED THEM FOR CLRNC. THEY HAD AN ACFT DEPART AFTER I PASSED THE CTR OF THEIR ARPT AND I CONTINUED ON THEIR FREQ UNTIL I DEPARTED THEIR AREA TO THE NW; ENRTE TO I73. I THEN CHANGED FREQ TO DAYTON TWR ATIS 125.8 AND LISTENED FOR ADVISORIES AND THE CURRENT DAYTON AREA WX. THEY ADVISED THAT DAYTON ARPT WAS CLOSED TO GA ACFT DUE TO THE TFR AND THAT THE ACR TFC WAS NOT EFFECTED BY THE TFR. THERE WAS NO MENTION OF THE SIZE OF THE TFR AND IT REALLY DID NOT OCCUR TO ME THAT I73 WAS INCLUDED IN THE TFR. WHEN I WAS APPROX 8 MI FROM I73; I NOTED AN F16 PASS OVER ME AND MAKE A R TURN IN THE DIRECTION OF WRIGHT PATTERSON AFB; WHICH WAS NOT REALLY UNUSUAL BECAUSE THEY SOMETIMES HAVE A LARGE PATTERN AT ABOUT 3500 FT. A FEW MINS LATER; WHEN I WAS ONLY A COUPLE MI FROM I73 AND BEGINNING MY DSCNT TO PATTERN ALT; A SECOND F16 PASSED OVER ME. I ANNOUNCED MY DOWNWIND ON UNICOM AND PROCEEDED WITH A NORMAL LNDG. THE ARPT MGR GREETED ME WITH THE NEWS THAT I HAD VIOLATED THE TFR AND ATC NEEDED TO SPEAK WITH ME. I HAD A SHORT INTERVIEW WITH THE DAYTON SUPVR. THE DAY AFTER MY TFR INFRACTIONS; I PHONED TO SEE IF THERE WAS ANYTHING I SHOULD KNOW ABOUT MY SIT AND ANY ADVICE THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE ABOUT ACTIONS I SHOULD TAKE. THEY ADVISED THAT I WAS ONE OF MANY WHO HAVE STUMBLED INTO A TFR AND THAT I WOULD BE GETTING NOTIFICATION FROM THE FAA OF WHAT PUNITIVE ACTION WOULD BE TAKEN. YESTERDAY; I73 HOSTED A FLY-IN. OUR CINCINNATI BASED FAA REPRESENTATIVE CONDUCTED A SEMINAR WHICH I ATTENDED. DURING THE SEMINAR; THE TFR IMPLEMENTATION WAS DISCUSSED. SHE ADVISED THAT IT WOULD BE WELL ADVISED TO SEND IN THIS NASA FORM. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: PLT ADVISED THAT THE TFR WAS A 20 MI RADIUS OF DAY ARPT; 16000 FT AND BELOW. THE PLT RECALLED THAT HE WAS OUTSIDE THE 20 MI RADIUS WHEN INITIALLY LISTENING TO THE DAY ATIS; BUT SINCE HE WAS NOT LNDG AT DAY; AND NO SPECIFICS WERE XMITTED ABOUT THE TFR; HE FELT COMFORTABLE PROCEEDING TO I73. THAT IS; UNTIL THE SECOND F16 FLY-BY. THE RPTR ALLEGES THAT THE NEXT TFR THAT DAY WAS ONLY A 10 MI RADIUS. RPTR SUGGESTS THAT A STANDARD TFR RADIUS AND ALT BE IMPLEMENTED. THIS WOULD GIVE NON PARTICIPATING PLTS A 'RUNNING CHANCE' TO AVOID SUBSEQUENT TFR'S.