SYD is constrained by local residents and pollies. Dead right about that. It has been like that for decades. Back in 1969, residents under 07 glide slope 5 miles from threshold bitched about aircraft noise (DC3's, Viscounts, F27, and jets of various types). Word sent down to Head Office DCA in Melbourne via pollies to do something or votes would be lost. Over cups of morning tea in DCA suggestion was made by a minion to increase the GS angle from 2.75 degrees to 3 degrees. This gave an extra 150 feet or so over the OM and noise footprint would in theory reduce by miniscule amount due less thrust needed to hold 3 degrees. Pollies were happy because they could tell their voters they had reduced the noise. Of course there was no noticeable difference.
It then cost tax payers lots of money to raise the GS of all other ILS around Australia and have them flight tested by DCA DC3 and F27 calibration aircraft. Then someone said what about the T-VASIS? After all it wouldn't be a good thing if VASIS should also be set to 3 degrees to ensure standardisation with the ILS installations all around Australia? Now DCA had a tiger by the tail. So more big money was shelled out for the calbration aircraft to up the VASIS everywhere. Then voila! ICAO thought Australia had set a fine example for the world to follow and promptly published the new standard of three degrees for electronic and visual glide slopes. All for so called noise abatement.
Last edited by Centaurus; 16th Apr 2006 at 05:20.