Why do people live near airports and then complain?
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Why do people live near airports and then complain?
Editorial
Help me out. Why do people move in next to an airport and then complain about the airplanes?
This completely blows my mind. Are they so compulsive that they go through the arduous process of purchasing a home and miss the fact that there are airplanes regularly flying overhead?
For my day job we go into White Plains, NY all the time. When I first flew in there 16 years ago, it was just rolling hills and woods off the end of runway 34. Then I started seeing houses going up. Now you go past people’s kitchen windows on a 1 mile final! Hello!?! And these aren’t cheap homes. It’s a matter of time before that becomes a problem. KHPN has been there since 1942, that won’t matter though.
White Plains, NY (KHPN)
The problem at one of our local airports is much more acute. The Ohio State University airport, also established in 1942, has been perpetually under attack by a highly organized group of “neighbors ” called the WOOSE (We Oppose Ohio State airport Expansion) – very clever. With a name that more resembles a Dr. Seuss character than a group of rational adults, their tactics to shut down this airport have ranged from the inept to the sublime. They have sound measuring equipment and are constantly scrutinizing any and all flight operations. They even have a website where you can see their mission statement, log noise complaints, and see current airport news – woose.org
Woose defined: Narnian creatures that are any non-human inhabitants of Narnia, the fantasy world created by C. S. Lewis as a setting for his The Chronicles… (Emphasis on fantasy world!)
Again almost none of the nearby homes predate the airport. According to the WOOSE website “there are 7688 homes within a 2 nm radius of OSU” – if all of them are upset, that’s a lot of uninformed homebuyers. Make me king for a day and I would deport them for their sheer ignorance, citing they are too stupid to be Americans.
As of this writing, the airport and the WOOSE people have reached a tenuous ceasefire, but its a fragile arrangement at best. Since the airport is wholly owned by the university, it wouldn’t take a lot for them to throw in the towel.
This whole deal has had the effect of stifling any future growth there – sad because it should be the prime GA airport for the Columbus metroplex. Now it’s a battleground.
KOSU under attack from all sides
All over the country the alphabet groups like the EAA, AOPA, NBAA and others have done a commendable job keeping “ignorant neighbors” at bay through activism and education, but the problem will persist.
What can we do? “Cooperate and graduate.”
Whenever possible:
- avoid over flying neighboring homes (not possible at KOSU)
- pull that noisy prop back early (constant speed prop)
- try to schedule flights during the midday
- get involved. If your airport is under attack, find out what you can do to help
- above all else try to keep your cool around these misguided souls
Post your thoughts below in the comment section.
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There’s an airport just outside of Buffalo that has an adversarial relationship with its neighbors in a nearby, relatively new, development. It’s ugly. A couple of years ago, one if them claimed to a newspaper reporter that pilots were flying between houses!
The owner of my home base has done very well with the neighbors. The last significant complaint he received came right after a runway extension brought the threshold much closer to someone’s house and he was worried about how low aircraft were flying overhead. Rather than being adversarial, the owner invited him to the airport to check things out. I flew him around the pattern in my plane, explaining what the pattern is, why it is flown the way that it is, etc. By welcoming this fellow onto the airport, but putting a human face on aircraft flying near his home, and by demonstrating the culture of safety that most of us adhere to, he went away satisfied. It’s been two years and no new complaints have surfaced. Yes, we can argue that the airport was there first (which, I agree is a very valid point), but I think that starting there right away, by not taking the neighbor’s complaints seriously, I think it’s possible to set up an adversarial dynamic that can’t be undone.
Chris,
That is outstanding! That definitely sounds like the optimal approach. Thanks for sharing!
Maybe an overly simplistic explanation, but I suspect that property near an airport is priced lower than similar homes elsewhere. People buy an accepting the nuisance and then meet up with neighbors that are also upset. Suddenly, they realize that they can ban together and ‘shut down’ that ‘dangerous’ and ‘noisy’ airport. Basically, they employ the legal precendent laid down 40 years ago in Spur Industries v. Dell Webb Corp. I.e, the fact that the airport was there first doesn’t matter when dealing with a ‘public nuisance.’
Mike,
I think you hit the nail on the head.
I say buzz the hell out of them (within legal limits) and take the props out of sync when overhead. They should have thought it out before buying the houses. I mean hell when I go to my aunts house(on final for KFLL I sit out for hours watching the jets go overhead but then again I’m a pilot and enjoy planes. Truthfully people worry way to much about noise. Small GA planes don’t make much noise. I say make um all stand on the ramp when a Saber Liner taxis up I doubt they would be complaining about Cessna’s and Pipers after that.
David,
I agree! Give ’em hell!