Airplanes and noise complaints come together....literally.

[lilrkt]

Were the homeowners made aware of the route before they purchased there? I am all for protection of a tangeable asset like an airport that was obviously there and could be seen, but is there a reason that the route cannot be changed to not go that close to a populated area so low? Like it or not, they have just as much of a right to complain as you do to fly the route. I am saying this as someone who has studied airport management and the PR hell that can be raised. But also as someone who lives under the pattern at my local airport and loves every minute of it. I think the attitude you have is just going to make the situation worse and would just play into the image they have in their head about "those cowboy pilots who think they can do whatever they want".

 

[Lima_Charlie]

If I were you, I would probably go the route of getting on the HOA board. Granted, some of the other ways would be MUCH more fun, but if you plan on sticking around that community for awhile, it might make sense to get your neighbors as educated as possible, in the shortest amount of time. Sooner or later their ignorance will turn into admiration and respect, if the education is done right.

 

[MikeD]

lilrkt and jojobean,

Excellent points. You're completely correct, Military Training Routes get changed, added, deleted often. As you stated, unlike airports, it's far easier to change a VR route (IR routes a little more difficult); and there's dozens more in the state of AZ available to fly. From a purely neutral standpoint it's more the attitude of the homeowners I don't like, sort of the principle of them moving in and automatically assuming that the pilots flying the routes are just some rogue military cowboys that decided to take a personal vendetta out on THEIR personal home community. That's the attitude I don't appreciate, that rush to judgement without any thought to the fact maybe there's a reason that military jets are flying down there in what has always been middle-of-nowhere. That kind of attitude mirrors the same attitude as the "close the airports" crowd, and causes people like me to want to "stick it to them" when I have the legitimate opportunity to do so. Give them a little bit of their own medicine, so to speak. Effective to good relations? Probably not. Satisfying? Yup.

 

[Snow]

Well if you really wanted to raise a little hell you could always go with option B and dump a little fuel along the way

(Assuming you can dump fuel in a A-10)

Have you heard the one about the fighter pilot who dumped fuel on the policeman who gave him a speeding ticket on the way to work? Probably a myth but an amusing story none the less.

 

[Mike Lewis]

[ QUOTE ]
Have you heard the one about the fighter pilot who dumped fuel on the policeman who gave him a speeding ticket on the way to work? Probably a myth but an amusing story none the less.

[/ QUOTE ]

Robert L. Scott ("God is My Co-pilot") tells a story in his book "The Day I Owned the Sky" about his run-in with the California border ag inspection station. If I remember right (it was a few years ago I read the book), he was flying B-26s out at Luke Field, and he was taking his family out to California. He was stuck in a long line in the hot desert heat, and was so pissed when he got back to Luke, that he found a bunch of rotten melons and loaded them up in his bombbay. They then went and buzzed the ag station and practiced a bomb release, unleashing rotten melons all over the place. He said later when he drove through there he saw the direct hit he scored on the "Welcome to California" sign, along with the remnants of his "bombload"...

 

[lilrkt]

I can understand your frustration. If I were in your situation, I may even consider the same options. I just wanted to be the little voice of reason on your shoulder. It is always your choice to listen to that voice or not.