Although I appreciate all the comments, my response to this issue was slightly tongue-in-cheek. Telling people who complain about airport noise that the airport was there first has little, if any effect. Such people often live in a fantasyland or dream world where most other things are allowed to progress and grow...except airports which must for some reason stay at some predetermined (low) traffic levels forever because some some nitwit made an empty promise to a homebuyer twenty-eight years ago that airport noise "wouldn't be a problem" in the future.
If Mr. Ables comes out of his subdivision to Northsight Drive and goes north, oh...about a half-mile, he'll come to a Wal-Mart. We wonder if Mr. Ables protested the construction of the Wal-Mart, which most assuredly occurred in the intervening years since he bought his house. But no, the "convenience" of having a Wal-Mart nearby is probably something of an asset to a guy like Ables. I doubt he opposed it. Yet every Wal-Mart brings with it certain effects on the neighborhood, not all of them good. In mine, the increased traffic levels around the new Wal-Mart Supercenter are quite distressing, especially on the weekend.
But like I said, people get irrational when it comes to airplane noise. Normal arguments do not work on them, for they do not look at the issue objectively. All they know is that airplanes and helicopters rattle the little cheap Wal-Mart figurines on their fake fireplace mantles. It's not a matter of who was there first. Airplane noise is an intrusion, dammit, and it must be stopped!
If I have time, I will send a letter to the local paper, and maybe a gentle one to Mr. Ables. Somehow, I doubt it will do any good.