A house right next to the airport
This probably hits home to many of you folks out there whose airport has been more or less successfully threatened by anti airport activists.
I totally understand that noise pollution can be nerve-wracking and wouldn’t want to live in the approach path of a major airport either. But in most cases, the airport was there before the residential area. The situation might be different in Europe than in the United States or Australia, for instance. But even here, the airfields were usually built well outside of town, with the town slowly creeping up to it.
In my own little hometown, there was an “episode” of anti airport activists who tried to shut down our small local airfield. Fortunately, the aviation community could lobby against that successfully. I think there are a few noise abatement rules in place now. A win-win, if you ask me. In many cases, especially in urban areas, the bigger threat are probably land developers who have their eyes on big and undeveloped pieces of real estate.
Anyway, we’re totally biased and emphatically on the aviation side of this debate, of course! If you want to use any of our comic strips for any form of anti-anti-airport-activism, please feel free to just take them. We even have a special page with some high res versions.
Stef
Bellechase Louisiana, big golf course, large houses, next to a Naval Air Station (now it is a Joint Base)so of course the Karen residents had to complain the noise was unacceptable. What did you think? they’d put mufflers on the F14s?
Also a ‘hood just off the runway at New Orleans Intl. Folks got bought out for noise mitigation, though they likely found noise complaints was how to get out of crappy houses. The contractor didn’t compact the fill and slab houses had crawl spaces under the slabs after 10-15 years. At least they were on pilings.The house I lived in was just off the main runway flight path. Grew up across the road from train tracks with a crossing, so regular loud noises never bothered me. as a kid, I lived in a tent over summer in the back yard. got me out of the house with 3 sisters.
My parents lived next to a school for years. They always said that “something is missing” during school holidays, no children hooting and roaring.
I operate out of a grass strip, which has been in use for around 50 years. Locals were grateful when a small part of the field was given to the village as a Childrens playground arounf 20 years ago. Current “anti-s” say their children dare nor use the playground due to the airfield being so close, watching us used to be a part of the fun previously. They complain about the RAF operations nearby (about five miles away),about the 70 year old Gliding club tug and gliders flying “dangerously close together” the “death defying dive of the tug upon release, “we always think it is crashing”, and about our AVGAS storage on the opposite side of the airfield, which “Will destroy the village WHEN it explodes”! The leader of the antis moved in about seven years ago, “to be nearer to his family”, so he grew up with the airfield. Until he began to agitate, several of the Current protesters said they were not aware that our airfield existed! All of the complaints are directed at us, not any of the other airfields. We happen to be located in an annotated Area of Intessive Flying Activity in North Yorkshire.Plus ca change plus ca la meme chose!
Mo.
The airfield I worked at has been there since 1936. Some miserable old bat moved into a cottage a couple of miles down the extended centreline in the early 90s. She called ATC to complain about the noise about once a week, every time there was night flying, and definitely every time we had a fast-jet or a Herkybird come through (which was often – ATC were fast-jet-friendly). Didn’t matter if we were using the cross runway and the traffic was away from her. She was known and loathed by all the staff and customers.
We used to get a lot of RAF pilots coming to us to get their civilian licences and ratings. It wasn’t uncommon for them to drop by afterward and say hi, by means of a low fast pass in a Tornado or Jaguar. One guy did just that – except he didn’t pull up. We watched as he just kept on trucking at silly-height for the next two miles, stood the thing on its tail right over this old bat’s house, punched the burners, and didn’t stop until he remembered the airway and levelled off at “exactly 5,999 feet – that’s my story and I’m sticking to it”. Absolute legend.
This seems to be a problem everywhere. And the worst part is that unscrupulous politicians and developers keep building more and more houses in noise affected areas and trying to hide that fact from buyers. With (and I can’t say this any more friendly) idiotic buyers not doing ANY due diligence on finding out what is in the area or assuming that they can just complain their way out of the problem and shut down an airfield that’s been there for decades.
My opinion, unless it’s provable the air traffic is routinely exceeding historic levels, you have no right to complain about air traffic noise if you bought a house after the airport came into existence (which unfortunately is basically always as it feels like airfields are only disappearing with no new ones being opened.)
On the other hand I’ve also encountered some entirely dick moves from aviators that certainly won’t help our cause. If you’ve got a fuel/money-to-noise converter it’s not a good idea to keep circling the same area at low altitude day after day all through the day just because it’s an easy lap to do for tourists or whatever (and I’m not talking about doing patterns or holding). That’s bound to piss someone off. Glider clubs doing air tows might want to consider varying their towing route whenever possible so they don’t fly over the same houses and villages every time and don’t dive bomb the same house or field after uncoupling.
LFPN : airport since 1909 !. Nobody can claim he lived here before. Just check the VAC documentation to figure out the pressure from neighbours, backed by the local politicians for who, there are more voices to get voting from them among neighbours than among pilots
Yeah, I just do NOT put up with those kinds. I get enough noise when they have their radio on.
To be fair Chuck blabbing IS a valid noise to complain about.