They get an A for creativity and style:
A Pennsylvania couple angry at the noise from airliners flying overhead has expressed their anger by painting an obscene message on the roof of their home.The two-metre-tall sign is directed at the Federal Aviation Administration, which recently altered the plane routes around Philadelphia International Airport.
I grew up in the town next door. Folsom is where my high school was. Noise from air traffic was always there, but it must be pretty bad now with the new traffic patterns, particularly since UPS likes to fly out fully loaded 747s in the middle of the night.
While I give them an A for creativity and effort, I’d give them an F for logic. They knew that the airport was there, that they already had air traffic going over, and if they were at all rational when they bought the home they’d have to of figured that air traffic was likely to increase.
This is like people putting up a brand-new house next to a decades-old shooting range and then complaining about the noise. About the only way I’d give them a pass on that is if they bought or built the house – or their family members did – before the airport was built.
The FAA has changed the airspace over Philadelphia so that flights not previously routed over their house now get directly routed over their house. I agree that the public good of having safe and effective air traffic control over Philadelphia takes precedence here, but I don’t blame people for being pissy that an FAA edict interferes with their quiet enjoyment.
Wish I’d thought of that for the loud Air Reserve wing coming out of Dobbins Air Base, even thought they probably would have liked it.
I hope they also wrote it with Christmas lights for those nighttime flights.
I used to live at the end of the runway at Carswell AFB. I loved the sound of the a/c, especially when the F4F’s would stand on their tails and climb out of sight on full AB. Do not move near airports or military fields if you hate noise. Four miles is a minimum distance if you are sensitive.
Nowhere is far enough if you are stupid enough to not contemplate that things will change.
Because I’m nitpicky: I assume you mean F4H Phantom. The F4F Wildcat had a radial piston engine, which makes it quite difficult to switch on afterburners ;)
You are correct. I did mean the Phantom. Although I also love the sound of radial engines.
Forgive my mistake, I just finished Crisis in the Pacific (again) and had older a/c on my mind, I suppose.