I bring this up because in January, I attended an informal hearing in front of Eric Lenz, the operations supervisor from the Oakland Flight Standards District Office of the Federal Aviation Administration, regarding the submitted application for renewal of the aerobatics box waiver at Tracy Municipal Airport, which expired this past December.
During this hearing, I expressed my grave concern about the safety issues related to such activity so close to high-density residential development. I described my education in Physics and explained the classical mechanics governing the motion of aerobatic flight, and the centripetal acceleration and forces akin to those experienced on a roller coaster, though significantly more powerful.
I went on to point out that NASA performs rigorous stress tests on astronauts to determine the effect of high g-forces on the human body, but that no such tests are required for stunt pilots for use of an aerobatics box so close to the lives of so many. There are potential devastating results that could occur if the pilot were to momentarily lose consciousness when coming out of one of these high-speed dives — the point of maximum g-forces on the plane and pilot.
When the pilot exits the box to the north when coming out of one of these dives, which is often the case, if he or she were to momentarily lose control of the aircraft for whatever reason — pilot error, equipment failure or other — there would be no escape path available before being able to recover, and thus the out-of-control aircraft would be directly over several schools, hundreds of homes and thousands of children.
Unimaginable and horrific results would be inescapable.
International Aerobatics Club 38 has submitted a waiver renewal application for the box at the Tracy airport, despite also holding box waivers for the New Jerusalem and Calaveras Airports, which are much more remote and thus far more appropriate locations for such activity.
It was also pointed out to Mr. Lenz that though the box waiver had expired in December, aerobatic stunts were being observed over the Tracy airport in January. Since the FAA is unwilling or incapable of policing the rogue pilots who inappropriately and dangerously perform stunts when the box is not activated by the waiver holder, they should not be granting waivers for such activity so nearby the lives and well-being of thousands of Tracy residents.
I expressed that I had no desire to be party to denying anyone’s ability to pursue their happiness, but that times and circumstances have changed and continued allowance of this potentially extremely dangerous activity so close to the homes and lives of thousands, and thereby the ever-increasing potential of horrendous disaster, would be extraordinarily irresponsible.
• Daniel Wells lives in south Tracy and to the north of the aerobatics box.
A man with some common sense.
Say hello ta Kim fer me.
Parhaps he's thankin of th article ya were apparently interviewed fer that states, "The noise and the allegedly low-flying planes taking off and landing at the airport upset resident Dan Wells, a Jefferson School District trustee whose home lies directly under their flight path."
Ya can find it at:
http://tracypress.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Airport neighbor altitude sick &id=2184937
Glad ta be of assistance should TracyGuy95376 not be able ta get right back ta ya.
Note: My position in this is entirely neutral as it's not my fight. That being said, please don't denigrate th messenger.
Others have legitimate concerns with noise, but it is not and never has been the concern I raise.
The police are tasked with ensuring safety on public roads. The FAA is tasked w/ ensuring safety of air traffic.
I 'am' concerned about LLNL and opposed the Level 4 Bio lab there.
I am also concerned about speeding neighbors and have confronted them when barreling down our street.
tcy1 - Ordinary citizens are not equipped to capture an N number from the side of an aircraft at high speed in the box area above the airport. It is a ridiculous and unattainable request. Not the same as capturing a license plate number of a speeder in a residential zone.
Let's keep it real, folks.
Darren - I am glad to hear you are open to further compromise. As I indicated previously, if exiting the box to the South was a requirement and the FAA properly policed the box activity, my opposition could be remedied.
"Sure, a pilot could pass out while flying. His heart can also stop, for any number of reasons. His brain can shut down, again, for any number of reasons. To take precautions based on something that may, or may never actually happen is insane."
I agree, the same could be said for drivers on the road, surgeon operating, it could happen to anyone!!!
Guess it is the same old cry of "which came first, the chicken or the egg"... it would help not to buy houses near the airport if you wish for quietness.
CN
someone said the stunt plane activity only used Tracy airport ~20days every year. I am working 6 days a week, Sunday is the only day I could rest in my residence. 20day of noise took away 40% of my time each year that I could possibly rest and recharge, counts 52 Sundays a year. Not to mention there’s no prediction of when I would get the peace, because that is only at the mercy of the pilots when they talk and rest.
The justice of a society is not about who comes first. Stunt plane activity might be OK 20 years ago in Tracy when the area was an open land, but definitely not OK now with thousands of people live nearby.
I fully agree with your article. Besides the safety issues, the constant droning of the aerobatic aircraft hours on end is most annoying! My family cannot enjoy our backyard while this activity is being conducted. We go inside, close windows and doors and still must endure it. My experience with the flying community has always been a positive one until now. This IAC Chapter 38 appears to be comprised of bullies that that have no consideration for the residents of Tracy. As real estate owners we have a right to peace and quiet. The aerobatic activity violates that right.
I read a posting that talked about them being here first. That is fine but the City of Tracy elected to expand residential construction to the south. That changes the dynamics. I would hope that IAC Chapter 38 would act responsibly and move their activity to a more suitable place for this type of activity such as Calaveras where they have a practice area, fuel and food. If they have a practice area there, why upset Tracy residents? What about their desire to be "Good Neighbors?" We certainly welcome them to fly here, fuel up, and fly out any time.
Why isn't the City of Tracy standing behind their residents and helping us to rid the area of this noise pollution? Not that it matters, but I would venture a guess that very few, if any, of the pilots utilizing the practice area are Tracy residents. I will keep this in mind next election time and assist with time and money to vote the current regime out unless we get support from our elected officials. I hope you will join me.
Isn't this the original e-mail you sent to the Exploder that was published in our local newspaper a few years ago?
From: acro-bounces at aerobatics.ws [mailto:acro-bounces at aerobatics.ws] On
Behalf Of Darren_Pleasance at mckinsey.com
Sent: Wednesday, April 26, 2006 8:51 AM
To: Exploder IAC
Subject: [Acro] Any guidance on how to determine if noise complaints can be
recorded against the complainer's home?
As many of you may know, we've been fighting the good battle out here on the West Coast to get our aerobatic box renewed in Tracy, CA. After two years of hard work by a number of folks, we finally got our waiver back and have built a constructive relationship with the local FSDO and City of Tracy.
However, we still get noise complaints (as one would expect), and the City of Tracy has asked me if I knew anything about rules for attaching noise complaints to the deeds of property owners who complain (e.g., if someone formally complains about noise, the complaint would become part of the home
owners public record so when their house is sold, the new owner knows they're buying into a house in the noise footprint of the airport).
Does anyone know how I would answer this? Is there precedence for doing this. If so, how is it done. We'd have to decide how we'd wield this "weapon", but knowing it exists, and how to use it, would at least be good to understand sooner rather than later if we need it.
The City shares our frustration with the noise complainers since they knowingly bought homes right next to the airport and are now complaining about noise, so they're looking for options as well.
Any thoughs would be great.
Thanks.
Darren
Darren, I am sticking to the facts. This e-mail just shows that you're a weasel.
Too bad you couldn't make it to the FAA meeting back in January. You could have sat next to your other weasel buddy Rod Buchanan.
1) I'm not an Aviation Thug. To the contrary, I've invested a ton of time in trying to compromise and create a safe, compatible environment for the aerobatic pilots to continue to use the Tracy Airport as they have for the past ~20 years. I've hosted community outreach days, invited people to come out to talk with the pilots to meet them and learn what they do, encouraged kids to sit in the planes and learn more about how to make aviation a career or hobby, and have actively pursued other locations beyond Tracy to use to minimize the impact on any one location, including New Jerusalem and Calaveras as suggested in the editorial.
2) I do understand, and empathize with people who don't like the noise, or are concerned about safety. It's because of this that we've adopted a large number of self-imposed use guidelines that limit how often the Tracy Airport is used each year for aerobatic practice, and the way flight operations are conducted to keep the majority of it as far south of the homes as possible.
3) There has never been a day with 8 hours straight of aerobatic flying in the history of the chapter. Typical flights are ~15 minutes in nature and there are typically 4-5 airplanes at the airport on a practice day, each flying 2-3 times maximum; on a worse case day there is a total of 4 hours of noise, and that's got periods of breaks while pilots talk and rest. Any other airplane noise being heard is generated by other aircraft using the airport, not the aerobatic guys. As such, total aerobatic noise generated during the year, over the ~20 days it's used, adds up to a maximum of 80 hours, and in reality is less since there are often only 2-3 planes there, each flying 1-2 times. 4) Despite the sensationalism of suggesting that I was threatening the neighbors, that is 100% false so please don't propagate that. I hold no ill will to people living near the airport, I never have, nor ever will attempt to intimidate people living near the airport, and I will continue to seek constructive dialog to find ways to coexist. I addressed this character attack several years ago following a poorly researched, but sensationalized article written by a local journalist. My correction of the facts was published in an editorial to the Tracy Press. It's public record so should be out there still to read.
5) Lastly, to the point of not using this topic to imply it's the first step toward closing the airport, I disagree on two fronts:
i) Airports all over the country are under attack, largely due to poor city planning and the associated encroachment of houses and the owners who don't like the noise, or are concerned about safety. I am legitimately concerned that every step taken to limit the ability of pilots to use the airport and airspace around them hastens the day that the airport goes away. History has shown this to be true (look at map of airports in the L.A basin in 1960, and compare to today, about 70% are gone). Aerobatic flying, night operations, touch and goes, flight training, etc are all elements of aviation that are important to the lifeblood of the industry, yet are facing extreme pressure from local neighbors to curtail them. I'm fully open to compromise, and have compromised a lot already in how the Tracy airport is used, but do believe in defending reasonable aspects of what the aerobatic pilots are doing.
ii) I also see this as not any different from other activities that some individuals disagree with but are important to protect in the interest of keeping America what it has always been. I don't like motorcycles, offroad vehicles, hunting, skydiving, and a number of other activities, but I 100% support the rights of people who do like this to do it, with reasonable compromises to not overly inconvenience/annoy those who don't. I feel like that's exactly what I'm also advocating with the aerobatic pilots.
BTW, I currently don't compete in aerobatics, and haven't flown in the Tracy aerobatic area in several years so I have no personal stake in this topic, other than a commitment to making sure the dialog is fair and fact based, a firm belief in the need to protect the rights of the few to keep from losing the rights of the many, and an ongoing openness to find better ways to meet the needs of all the stakeholders, including those who would prefer that the aerobatic pilots go away. I'm happy to talk through this at any time, and have already suggested to the City of Tracy that we hold another "aerobatic outreach day" to allow for more dialog with the local community and exploration of ways to be better neighbors.
Certainly not a "thug",
Darren
1) I'm not an Aviation Thug. To the contrary, I've invested a ton of time in trying to compromise and create a safe, compatible environment for the aerobatic pilots to continue to use the Tracy Airport as they have for the past ~20 years. I've hosted community outreach days, invited people to come out to talk with the pilots to meet them and learn what they do, encouraged kids to sit in the planes and learn more about how to make aviation a career or hobby, and have actively pursued other locations beyond Tracy to use to minimize the impact on any one location, including New Jerusalem and Calaveras as suggested in the editorial.
2) I do understand, and empathize with people who don't like the noise, or are concerned about safety. It's because of this that we've adopted a large number of self-imposed use guidelines that limit how often the Tracy Airport is used each year for aerobatic practice, and the way flight operations are conducted to keep the majority of it as far south of the homes as possible.
3) There has never been a day with 8 hours straight of aerobatic flying in the history of the chapter. Typical flights are ~15 minutes in nature and there are typically 4-5 airplanes at the airport on a practice day, each flying 2-3 times maximum; on a worse case day there is a total of 4 hours of noise, and that's got periods of breaks while pilots talk and rest. Any other airplane noise being heard is generated by other aircraft using the airport, not the aerobatic guys. As such, total aerobatic noise generated during the year, over the ~20 days it's used, adds up to a maximum of 80 hours, and in reality is less since there are often only 2-3 planes there, each flying 1-2 times. 4) Despite the sensationalism of suggesting that I was threatening the neighbors, that is 100% false so please don't propagate that. I hold no ill will to people living near the airport, I never have, nor ever will attempt to intimidate people living near the airport, and I will continue to seek constructive dialog to find ways to coexist. I addressed this character attack several years ago following a poorly researched, but sensationalized article written by a local journalist. My correction of the facts was published in an editorial to the Tracy Press. It's public record so should be out there still to read.
5) Lastly, to the point of not using this topic to imply it's the first step toward closing the airport, I disagree on two fronts:
i) Airports all over the country are under attack, largely due to poor city planning and the associated encroachment of houses and the owners who don't like the noise, or are concerned about safety. I am legitimately concerned that every step taken to limit the ability of pilots to use the airport and airspace around them hastens the day that the airport goes away. History has shown this to be true (look at map of airports in the L.A basin in 1960, and compare to today, about 70% are gone). Aerobatic flying, night operations, touch and goes, flight training, etc are all elements of aviation that are important to the lifeblood of the industry, yet are facing extreme pressure from local neighbors to curtail them. I'm fully open to compromise, and have compromised a lot already in how the Tracy airport is used, but do believe in defending reasonable aspects of what the aerobatic pilots are doing.
ii) I also see this as not any different from other activities that some individuals disagree with but are important to protect in the interest of keeping America what it has always been. I don't like motorcycles, offroad vehicles, hunting, skydiving, and a number of other activities, but I 100% support the rights of people who do like this to do it, with reasonable compromises to not overly inconvenience/annoy those who don't. I feel like that's exactly what I'm also advocating with the aerobatic pilots.
BTW, I currently don't compete in aerobatics, and haven't flown in the Tracy aerobatic area in several years so I have no personal stake in this topic, other than a commitment to making sure the dialog is fair and fact based, a firm belief in the need to protect the rights of the few to keep from losing the rights of the many, and an ongoing openness to find better ways to meet the needs of all the stakeholders, including those who would prefer that the aerobatic pilots go away. I'm happy to talk through this at any time, and have already suggested to the City of Tracy that we hold another "aerobatic outreach day" to allow for more dialog with the local community and exploration of ways to be better neighbors.
Certainly not a "thug",
Darren
The roads upon which SUVs travel around town are policed by Tracy PD & CHP. I don't see the FAA policing the airways here.