Noise Abatement "Procedures" - Cause for Concern
At a general aviation airfield where I instruct from time to time it has become the custom to initiate the climbing turn after take off below 500 ft agl to avoid overflying a housing estate which, for reasons best known to the planners and local council, was permitted to be built a few years ago.
As a flying instructor teaching inexperienced pilots I am most concerned about this procedure since (often) the climbing turn has to be started circa 100 to 200 ft, depending on the environmental conditions. One could reasonably argue that perhaps operations should not be conducted from this runway with ab initio students but this would not really be practical.
We teach students never to turn below 500 ft in the normal course of events and yet in this case we turn a blind eye to this prudent restriction. Invariably I see pilots conducting this turn at 5 kts or so below the normal climbing speed at bank angles up to 30 degrees (spiral stability). Add a little turbulence and an engine failure and I feel we have all the ingredients for a stall/spin accident.
Nowhere in the UK AIP does it say that this procedure should be used although the club and aerodrome "flight order book" says that the turn should be initiated to avoid overflying the built up areas.
I am all for operating in a manner which avoids excessive noise for the locals but I am also concerned about the flight safety implications. Perhaps it would be safer over the long term to climb ahead to 500 ft beore turning although this would involve flight over the housing estate.
Finally, an exception to the 500 ft rule is when taking off and landing in accordance with"normal aviaition practice". I would argue that by turning significantly below 500 ft you are not complying with"normal aviation practice" and may therefore be in breach of the Act.
Despite the use of this procedure we still get noise complaints!!
Any comments?