NOISE FROM SMALL AIRPLANES DISTURBS PEACE OF TOWN'S RESIDENTS

Boston Globe Article

If you do not subscribe to the Boston Globe archives, a brief synopsis of the article:

Residents concerns include:

NOISE

- The constant drone of small-engine aircraft occurs 50 minutes out of each day light hour
- The variations in volume and pitch of the planes never becomes white noise and is equated to that of a leaf blower outside a window
- The noise is compared to that of listening to a mosquito circling around and around
- Residents look forward to rainy days because it is quiet.
- Flight schools are unaware of the negative impact on property owners

PROPERTY VALUES

Residents are concerned with property values. Realtors have mentioned that a potential buyer will walk away from a property when they hear the roar of engines overhead.

GROTON IS A SUBURN

The perception that Groton is "Mayberry" no longer holds true. Over 10,000 residents currently live in this suburb of Boston and that number is growing rapidly.

NAVIGATIONAL REFERENCE LANDMARKS

Groton offers easy landmarks for novice pilots. MIT owns an enormous golf-ball-like sphere that is easily seen as the pilots lift off from Hanscom or Nashua. Once in this airspace, major power lines, several bodies of water, and the Nashua River offer ground reference points

FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR COMMENTS

Greg Saccardo, flight instructor at East Coast Aero Club offers the following comments during his interview:
- Flight schools concentrate their activity in Groton due to habit and airspace restriction
- It is tough to change flight schools' habits
- Groton is a nice little unrestricted airspace to practice maneuvers
- If pilots don't practice, there may be an airline shortage
- We would like to be a good neighbor but his is not a NIMBY issue

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