Lance Fisher

There is a serious problem a U42/SLC that any new airspace arrangement should address. It is virtually impossible to depart U42 in IMC or even MVFR on an IFR clearance due to conflicts with the IFR traffic into and out of SLC (getting into U42 on an IFR clearance is easy). This greatly degrades the utility of U42 as a reliever airport and forces more transient GA aircraft to use SLC when U42 would otherwise be a viable and preferable option. I personally have been held on the ground at U42 awaiting a departure clearance for over four hours on two occasions and I find this "second class" treatment of GA to be extremely objectionable and likely contrary to FAA general policy. I realize that this cannot be fixed solely by alterations to the Class B boundaries and altitudes as it involves IFR operational procedures at SLC more than anything. But there's a good chance that the development of a viable IFR departure procedure from U42 would become easier with some minor modification to the current proposal (I make no claims to any knowledge regarding what those changes might be). Therefore I beg you to develop such a procedure (one that is truly usable when the valley has IMC) at this time so that any necessary airspace alterations could be incorporated along with the major changes. Said procedure needn't be approved and implemented concurrently, just planned. Ideally it would be usable with "conventional" navigation equipment (VOR/LOC/DME) but given the greater flexibility associated with IFR GPS navigation and the high percentage of installation in GA aircraft a procedure that requires GPS or WAAS GPS would offer significant benefit.