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Old 22nd May 2013, 18:21
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xrayalpha
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Strathaven Airfield
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You will need to be careful what you write.... because we do not want to be seen as Nimbys or "boys crying wolf".

Unfortunately, for both the aviation and the wind energy community, there is very little hard and fast data

At Strathaven, we operate safely and successfully with Whitelee, Europe's second largest onshore windfarm (160-plus turbines, each higher than the Blackpool Tower) starting at 4.4km from the end of the main runway.

We strongly suspect we notice turbulence from them on climb-out in certain conditions - interestingly at 400-700ft agl, so higher than the tallest turbine.

We adhere to CAA recommendations (CAP 764) - not that they have a lot of detail - and challenge almost any development within 3km of the airfield and often have serious concerns about developments within 5km of the airfield (based on our experience with Whitelee).

I think, at the last count, there were more than 70 proposals for wind developments within 5 miles of Strathaven town!

So we are probably some of the most experienced pilots in the UK when it comes to flying in the neighbourhood of wind turbines.

If anyone has a development proposed near their airfield, please feel free to get in touch and I will send you copies of some of our submissions.

If it is more than 5km from your airfield, I am afraid that your objections - unless to do with radar - will come to naught since any developer worth their salt will be able to point at Strathaven's experience.
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