PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Noise suffered by the people on the ground
Old 3rd May 2015, 00:00
  #33 (permalink)  
Left_Pedal
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
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Tony I'm going to try and be as polite as possible.

Generally a helicopter is flying overhead at or above 1000ft AGL unless directed by ATC. Many helicopters, private or commercial, travel at about 185kph (100kts) and are in the area for 12 to 15 seconds. At that height most helicopters are between 55dB and 65dB. No louder than the inside of an office of shopping centre.

It's not the actual volume of the noise that is making you "suffer" but the difference in noise. It's just like sitting at a cafe on a main street, you don't notice each and every car that drives past that cafe because you're used to it. Then a Harley motorbike goes past and you notice it. You notice it because it's vastly different to the cars that have been going past.

Take a minute to understand what the pilots are doing as well. Those small scenic tourism helicopters are generally being flown by people who want to further their career and fly EMS helicopter, Police operations, oil rig transfers, powerline inspections or fire fighting. They're guys and girls who have chosen a career in aviation and they've spent a lot of money trying to fulfil their dreams and will end up becoming pilots of aircraft that we all may require in a time of need.

You see, I've been on the receiving end of people who think helicopter noise is offensive. I ran a very successful tourism operation in the second most popular tourism region in Western Australia. I had 12 people out of a whole town complain, threaten, vandalise my helicopter and eventually run me out of town.

I was just doing my job in a region that relies on tourism, I was trying to build hours to doing something more later on in my flying career but now I've relocated back to a capital city and unemployed. There's no flying jobs where I am and I've lost over $75,000 after being run our of this town so I can't afford to just move somewhere else to try flying. No one will hire a 40 year old with no experience outside of aviation.

So just think about that snow ball effect if you continue to pursue that amount of suffering that you may be experiencing when a helicopter spends 12 seconds flying over your house. I can tell you what real suffering is like not being able to find work because someone like yourself decided to take some kind of action again a helicopter flying over your house.
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