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Would you rather have an asphalt plant a mile down the road?

This letter begs the question, "Why did you buy a house near an airport, anyway?"

"Why was 60 to 65 decibels OK then and not OK now?"

I would turn this the other way around. It seems PTI is being responsible in not selling it's land to developers. Meanwhile, for years developers have been buying up land near the airport and building on it regardless of the noise issue. AND, people have been buying these houses. It always amazes me how people buy homes near airports whine about airplane noise.

"It was a bad decision to locate FedEx at our airport."

Why whine about something that is a fait accompli?

TLC, thanks for asking the question for me!

Shalom

why not move the airport downtown? too many wires?

Dan,

I doubt the folks would have bought their homes near the airport had they known about the FedEX hub.

What FedEx will bring is a lot more than what most people expect. Those who have done the research and will have to live with the results have good reason to be upset.

My best advice is to cut their losses and find a new place to live.

Then again, I used to live right beside a train track and I got used to it.

Nit, I can see your point but the plans have been on the books for a new runway for decades. Besides, GSO already has flights at night, not as many of course as with FedEx, but they still do. If you don't want to hear airplane noise then don't buy a house near an airport. There are so many other locations around town.

This isn't just a local phenomena. People build around existing airports all the time and then complain about airplane noise. Not just large commercial airports but smaller general aviation airports. Many airports have been closed and more are endangered of closing.

I live off the approach end of runway 23 at GSO and often have aircraft flying over my house. I actually enjoy watching them and don't mind the noise, but then again I'm a pilot.

Dan,

You do have a point and I'm sure at least some of the folks who are whining shoulda known better.

What was interesting to me is that I don't really live close to the airport and rarely hear planes fly over. Maybe 2 or 3 a year fly low enough to hear from inside. However, when the Fed Ex hub was being studied, I was included in an area that would be affected by noise. I actually received a letter inviting me to a discussion. I'm guessing the airport is about 10 miles from my house. I had never considered my home to be close to an airport but here I received info saying I would be affected by noise. They later revised the study and said I wouldn't be but I'll just have to wait and see.

I watched Snakes on a Plane over the weekend. Just another reason to keep my feet on the ground. :)

Nit - you must live close by. I was initially in a noise zone which was later revised and put outside the designated noise area. I'm not sure if this was political or actually had some basis. Anyway, regardless whether an additional runway was planned, no one forsaw FEDEX years ago and the houses affected are miles from the airport. I also heard (and Dan you might know about this) that the FEDEX planes make far more noise than commercial jets because of differing regulations.

Nit, I realize the FedEx hub wasn't a thought until a decade or so ago, but the third runway has been on the books much longer. FedEx or not, if you don't like airplane noise don't buy a home near an airport.

VOR, I drive a 4 seat single engine piston airplane, not too much noise from it. I'm not sure about the regulations you cited and couldn't find anything about it on a Google search.

I do know the cargo carriers used older B727's and DC10's initially but, just like the airlines, they have upgraded to newer quieter, more fuel efficient aircraft.

"if you don't like airplane noise don't buy a home near an airport"

Dan, if you consider a home 10 miles from the airport to be 'near an airport', there's a prety good chance that if you buy a home in Greensboro, High Point or Jamestown you're gonna be 'near an airport'.

I agree about buying a home within a mile or two of the airport. I think when you get outside of a couple of miles, you shouldn't expect too much noise from airplanes. According to some of the FedEX studies, the noise levels will be quite high several miles from the airport.

Well, there's always the solution proffered by George Carlin.

"You know all those houses no one wants, out near an airport? Sell 'em to deaf people!"

Agreed nit, I'm talking within a couple miles from the airport. I see and hear planes approaching Rwy 23 and they usually come in at 2900 ft. I've never been woken by one. But if you live very close to an airport you will hear the reverse thrust on landing.

Of course they are much louder on take off. If they take off on the opposite Rwy 5 they are usually over 5000 ft. by the time they pass over my house and can barely be heard.

Another example is the Chapel Hill Horace Williams airport, built in 1928. Over the recent years, many expensive homes have been built near the airport and guess what? The homeowners don't like airplane noise!! On top of that, UNC-CH owns the land and wants to build a satellite campus there. UNC-CH has been trying to close that airport for years despite it's importance for AHEC flights which carry doctors to rural hospitals.

Many people do not understand the importance of aviation but they sure as hell want that FedEx package delivered now or depend upon that specialist to appear pronto at a rural hospital.