As you can probably tell by my username I am one of those NIMBY's you refer to, I am actually a normal guy who rarely complains about things but have been driven to action by the level and regularity of noise in my area.
I am active on many formus relating to my specific areas of interest (motorbikes and model helicopters) and have seen posts on the bike forums where an anti has joined in and been shot down and not given the chance to voice their side
Have I got this right ?
Someone bashing away at a motorbike then revving it for 10 minutes followed by leaving it idling for 30 minutes then charging up and down the street on a Sunday morning is fine.
Up to 20 helicopters passing overhead (how long does that take?) during the day is unacceptable.
From my experience of living near an Army barracks, the associated Lynx/Puma/Chinook helicopter movements at not that much above rooftop height are nothing compared to the local motorbike population. None of those were mentioned in the estate agents brochure. Visitors always comment how quiet it is ! Nowhere is ever going to be perfect and in my case the plus points outweigh the negative so I get over it. Turning into Victor Meldrew is a route to an early grave. Are helicopters the real problem here or just an easy target ? I realise this is probably no help whatsoever, just a different perspective. I'm not sure what else you're expecting to get out of this forum ?