My guess is that ‘the author’ is more or less a ‘rubber stamp’ and that the real authors are the personnel who run SBD in concert with Amazon, Walmart and other fulfillment centers making room for more on-demand package delivery by air over the coming decades. That is a Prime Air jet making its daily round from 2022. This will probably increase by 20-fold or more over the coming years.

Read the public comments!
In particular, the comments by Marc Weniger are really on point.
https://www.regulations.gov/document/FAA-2024-2055-0001/comment

There are several issues with the proposed expansion of the San Bernardino class D airspace:
1. Air traffic approaching KREI will now have to approach lower, increasing noise and the possibility of increased noise complaints from the community. As we all know increased noise of less to airport closures down the road.

2. Radar coverage does not exist for KSBD. They have a difficult time managing the airspace they have now. Expanding class D with no radar coverage increases the danger for approaching aircraft over populated cities. In NO WAY should D be expanded without radar coverage. As proof – Feel free to contact me regarding the near miss I recently had with a heavy out of KSBD (which has been reported to and verified by the Riverside FISDO).

3. The utility of KREI will be greatly diminished. Ultralight traffic will no longer be able to operate out of KREI. (Also popular paraglider and hang glider soaring routes will be blocked.) In addition the new visibility and cloud clearance requirements as a result of the airspace changes will make it difficult for arriving and departing VFR traffic on days with a marine layer. The marine layer can burn off yet the visibility be below three miles for most of the day in the spring and summer months. This would keep the majority of the aircraft at KREI grounded for possibly weeks at a time.

4. North departing KREI traffic will need to delay climb out. In case of engine failure this puts pilots and people in the ground in more danger because the class D will make a return to KREI impossible in the event of engine failure.

5. The new airspace scheme will invite larger aircraft to make east to west approaches increasing noise, pollution for the Redlands and Highland communities.

6. Putting large aircraft over the top of the KREI traffic pattern will cause wake turbulence endangering the lives of pilots and passengers arriving at KREI. Few if any aircraft are following the UPS approach into KSBD – just look at the pat three years of flight tracks.

KREI has substantially more aircraft movements than does KSBD As a result the opera at KREI should be prioritized over KSBD. Expanding Class D is a will substantially reduce the ability for VFR traffic to operate out of KREI and increasing the danger. The FAA should not be favoring KSBD, a low movement airport in such a way that is substantially harms KREI a higher movement airport.

KSBD traffic should continue to approach from West to East. The San Bernardino area cannot handle more large air traffic and all the noise, pollution, and danger to local air traffic that goes along with it.

The graphics and many more details and comments are in the Redlands AP Assn newsletter:
https://raacp.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/NPRM-Request-for-Comment-SBD-REI-Airspace-Proposal-10-16.pdf

I strongly recommend reading this. It looks very well-written and it defends the powered Swifts at KREI.

This seems to be the official alerts page which shows a less restrictive map:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/sbnf/?cid=FSEPRD1181411

When sharing or posting info and graphics PLEASE cite or link the source!!!!

Thanks for the entertainment.
Don’t forget Dust of the universe: https://ziadbassil.blogspot.com/

A Plug for XCFind.paraglide.us

Even if we go down under reserve can we extract ourselves and return to civilization? Will others know our location and maybe our status? It is possible come down safely and be unable to get to safety. I’ve known many pilots who landed safely in the brush only to discover that it was either unpassable or that it took like 6 hours to move one mile and reach a road. If you own a GPS tracker and have a live tracking then please spend another $20 annually to get onto XCFind as I linked above. This makes it easy for others to know you may or may not be in need to assistance or rescue.
Never rely solely on cellphone apps that reply on cell towers for data and/or SMS transmission. We lost a club member to a rattlesnake bite due to lack of cellular connection. Had he been equipped with a GPS tracker the outcome would have likely been more favorable. I sometimes fly past the spot where he was found five days later. I myself have been assisted by Jeff and Gavin when I hit my ‘helping hand’ button after a bad XC landing. This came through via XCFind. I’m sure there have been many others.

Please do the right things – in addition to reserve toss practice/prep have a GPS tracker on the XCFind system. Keep extra lithium batteries handy. Know how to use and read the web interface to monitor activity.