Protecting local airfields from housing developments

[tuga]

"Hover for hours on end" (those are helecopters)
"Disturbing thousands of people" (have you asked them all?)
"Their egotistcal enjoyment, is not enviromentally friendly" (not many recreational persuits are, are yours?)

All this reluctance, for people to be able to have a good time, smacks of a certain selfishness, or maybe even jealously.
I say, good luck to you, have a good time, we aint here long enough anyway.

A single chap flying in circles for fun, burning fuel and making noise. That's not selfish.
It's bad enough living a couple of miles from the hospital heli pad, and having huge 4-engine air force jets flying around for no apparent reason... There's one flying as I type.

 

[Tony Lockhart]

A single chap flying in circles for fun, burning fuel and making noise. That's not selfish.
It's bad enough living a couple of miles from the hospital heli pad, and having huge 4-engine air force jets flying around for no apparent reason... There's one flying as I type.

The air force, RAF or USAF, just don’t fly for no reason, and they don’t have to explain themselves to you.

 

[Pravda]

A single chap flying in circles for fun, burning fuel and making noise. That's not selfish.
It's bad enough living a couple of miles from the hospital heli pad, and having huge 4-engine air force jets flying around for no apparent reason... There's one flying as I type.

Well, lets hope you dont need one

 

[myles]

Well, lets hope you dont need one

A heli pad? He's already said he doesn't like the hobby.

 

[eternumviti]

The helicopter landing pad at the hospital is for critical A&E patients, and Tuga's wife works in the NHS. Go figure.

 

[TheFlash]

We’ve had a good number of sunny afternoons (surely you remember those) in the garden spoiled by the annoying arses who like to fly their small noisy planes around in circles so their clients (guess) can look at the nice pretty Vale of Belvoir villages below. Very very annoying.

I have no problem with their flying over in a straight line, it’s the circling thing which rankles.

Is there some reason they aren’t legally obliged to fit silencers?

 

[Sue Pertwee-Tyr]

A lot of these aircraft use engines designed decades ago, which were not designed to use silencers. You can’t really retrofit them, for weight, power output and aerodynamic reasons, unfortunately. Also, a lot of the noise which reaches the ground is generated by the propeller , not the exhaust. The private flying people would love quieter aircraft, they don’t want to annoy people. Modern designs are better, but still a minority of craft.

A lot of the ‘flying round in circles’ is circuit training, where the pilot practises takeoffs and landing. And a lot of the lower level flying is because the aircraft are prevented from flying higher because of controlled airspace.

The amount of aviation fuel consumed is trivial, there are much bigger targets to go at first if you want to reduce emissions. All those school run trips, for example.

And that air ambulance (or police helicopter) pilot may very well have learnt his skills at a small airfield, so let’s hope the haters never have need of one.

 

[Mick P]

And that air ambulance (or police helicopter) pilot may very well have learnt his skills at a small airfield, so let’s hope the haters never have need of one.

There has been a lot of stupid and inept comments in this thread but that particular one is a good point, why can't we have more like that.

The only answer I can think of is that air ambulances may have access to military sites or airfields that provide a specialist training. Nevertheless, it is a point that merits consideration.

 

[Sue Pertwee-Tyr]

There has been a lot of stupid and inept comments in this thread but that particular one is a good point, why can't we have more like that.

The only answer I can think of is that air ambulances may have access to military sites or airfields that provide a specialist training. Nevertheless, it is a point that merits consideration.

There are relatively few ex-military pilots, certainly not enough to go round. Those who go into civilian life are usually snapped up, particularly the helicopter pilots, but a significant proportion come from the private sector and are often self-funded through their training.

 

[Mick P]

I admit that I just don't know the answer to this, it is certainly the one point that gives a creditable defence. I shall mention this to my son who has more detailed knowledge than me.

 

[Sue Pertwee-Tyr]

I admit that I just don't know the answer to this, it is certainly the one point that gives a creditable defence. I shall mention this to my son who has more detailed knowledge than me.

Be aware also that the great majority of commercial pilots have gained their licences using the self-funded route, which often requires a stint as a flying instructor at just such an airfield as we are discussing. Without these facilities, there wouldn't be anything like enough commercial pilots to go around, and flights to your Spanish pad would be at much more of a premium, and far less frequent.

 

[davidsrsb]

Is there some reason they aren’t legally obliged to fit silencers?

You cannot modify civilian aircraft in anyway without an awful lot of certification. Something like a Cessna 182 would never pass modern type approval.
I used to fly PPL, the fuel I burned was a lot less than all those PFM Porsche owners get through.

Airfields actually make pretty good nature reserves and act as rainfall buffers, a much better use of land than little box suburbia.

 

[Pravda]

A lot of these aircraft use engines designed decades ago, which were not designed to use silencers. You can’t really retrofit them, for weight, power output and aerodynamic reasons, unfortunately. Also, a lot of the noise which reaches the ground is generated by the propeller , not the exhaust. The private flying people would love quieter aircraft, they don’t want to annoy people. Modern designs are better, but still a minority of craft.

A lot of the ‘flying round in circles’ is circuit training, where the pilot practises takeoffs and landing. And a lot of the lower level flying is because the aircraft are prevented from flying higher because of controlled airspace.

The amount of aviation fuel consumed is trivial, there are much bigger targets to go at first if you want to reduce emissions. All those school run trips, for example.

And that air ambulance (or police helicopter) pilot may very well have learnt his skills at a small airfield, so let’s hope the haters never have need of one.

Yes Sue, your last sentence, is exactly what happens half a mile from us. A private airfield, recently rented by the police, to train helicopter pilots. They need somewhere to train, there's less houses around here, and no complaints from the locals.(not me anyway)you can't make an omelette..... blah,blah,blah.
Noise is a personal taste thing. The lady next door plays church music really loud, as she's deaf. I hate it, so I shut the window...simple.k
Let's not forget the amazing wildlife that left alone over there

 

[manicatel]

Broadly speaking, you can break non-commercial aviation down into a few categories.
Professional flying, ie charter flights & air ambulance/ police helicopters etc.
This type of flying is nearly always direct point-to-point. They’re not going to be taking indirect routings, time is money etc.
Military stuff..
Again, purposeful flying, not much joy-riding.
People learning to fly.
This will include the bumps & circuits, learning to take off & land amongst other necessary elements. As others have said, this is not a cheap thing to do, mainly self-funded & from what I’ve seen, not much frivolous wasting of fuel & time. They don’t tend to be up for more than an hour or so at a time as often, you pay for lessons by the hour. So they certainly don’t circle for hours & hours.
And then, yes the Joy-riders, the “ my kids bought me an hours trial lesson for my birthday” type stuff, where you might get a Cessna circling overhead for a few minutes.

 

[calorgas]

We have RNAS Yeovilton a couple of miles away (and August Westland a few miles away on the other side of the town). We also have a main road, which is by far the most annoying source of noise. I'd happily swap for another airfield in the other direction if the road would FO.

 

[Sue Pertwee-Tyr]

This is an interesting point. There are usually more intrusive sources of noise - including those noisy hifi systems coming through party walls and house windows - but airfields get the flak. Perhaps those living in rural idylls are more apt to hear this stuff because it drowns out the sound of birds tweeting and bees buzzing?

 

[Seeker_UK]

Perhaps those living in rural idylls are more apt to hear this stuff because it drowns out the sound of birds tweeting...

It's normally nightingales: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/magazine-35874257

I am old enough to remember when the RAF and USAAF had aircraft up in the air all day - the occasional Grob or Piper Cherokee having a bit of fun overhead doesn't bother me in the slightest. It's lawnmowers that set me off.

 

[Sue Pertwee-Tyr]

Yup, I forgot about lawnmowers; also leafblowers (why are they even a thing?), pressure washers, power tools used outdoors generally.

 

[Tony Lockhart]

When you hear someone moaning about the sound of a nightingale, you know that you need to respond to certain threads with either a piss-taking reply, or nothing at all.

 

[eternumviti]

We have RNAS Yeovilton a couple of miles away (and August Westland a few miles away on the other side of the town). We also have a main road, which is by far the most annoying source of noise. I'd happily swap for another airfield in the other direction if the road would FO.

I had RNAS Yeovilton a couple of miles away intermittently for 5 years of my life, and I loved it. But then I was a military aeroplane-loving schoolboy!