- April 25, 2024
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Dear Editor,
I would like to rebut the misinformation included in letters in the Nov. 8 issue of the Observer regarding Ormond Beach Airport runway.
Neither of the writers live within the area which is most impacted by near constant noise of airplanes. This may explain why they are not part of the “vocal reactionary element” that opposes the extension which will make the noise problem worse. It doesn’t bother them, so why should they be concerned? Condescending remarks will not make us go away.
The flight schools at the airport are currently training pilots to fly small, light aircraft. Those pilots will require additional training to fly larger, multi-engine and jet aircraft. What better place to do it than Ormond Beach, with a newly extended runway? These larger planes are louder than the majority of what we have now and will fly in larger patterns between touch and go practice. This means that they will impact a larger area and more Ormond Beach residents with their noise.
Will this happen? There is nothing to stop it. A local developer is already building new hangars to accommodate them.
Even if the flight schools do not move to larger aircraft, the longer runway will be accompanied by a longer taxiway, which will facilitate a greater frequency of training flights.
One writer claims,” The corporate jets are quieter, will take off further away from any residential area, and they don’t take off and land all throughout the day!” A little research will show that this is a false statement; the corporate jets produce louder and more piercing noise than the majority of the light planes using the airport today. The reason for the extension is that the larger aircraft need the extra runway to take off. They will certainly be using all that length, so they will not be taking off farther away. And the bulk of the people affected by the noise are not those immediately adjacent to the runway; they are the thousands of people living in one of the 34 subdivisions that the planes fly over. If the flight schools do include the larger planes, then they will be flying throughout the day.
Having more flights will increase the chances of a crash into a neighborhood, and bigger planes will cause more damage on the ground if that happens.
Please tell your City Commissioner that you oppose the extension of the Ormond Airport runway.
Dave Mott
Ormond Beach
Send letters up to 400 words to [email protected]. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.
