Wind Turbine Threat to Fishburn Airfield
Stu,
There are 2 turbines. One is 890mtr from the runway at the top of the hill and immediately underneath the downwind leg. The second is 450 mtrs from the runway slightly downslope and in an area used by smaller flex and microlight aircraft using a tighter and lower circuit.
They are 77mtr (254ft) high and 54mtr (178ft) wide. Maximum rotor speed is 28rpm giving a rotor tip speed of 165mph.
Aircraft would be ascending or descending through the wake turbulence on take-off & landing (not across it but flying along it).
There is no realistic alternative circuit as these involve overflights of neighbouring villages and business parks and interfere with a local VRP. Also turbines to the south east would then come into play. Anyone with an in flight emergency during take-off or landing would likely do so over a populated area with restricted options.
Even if an alternative route were available this does not mitigate against downdraft and wind sheer which could and would be experience at the runway. A slight lea side downdraft is experienced in a northerly wind. However, two 'in-line' turbines on the northern slope will exacerbate this. Turbines on their own cause wind sheer. The cumulative effect will be more severe.
The development breaches the airfield safeguarding zone recently lodged with the council and both turbines are within the internationally accepted and CAA recommended 16 blade diameters of the runway mid point.
The turbines are twice the size of anything that has been modelled or tested - the effects are unknown - which is why the CAA guidelines exist. Turbulence extends way past 16 diameters anyway - a neighbouring airfield has turbines 1 1/2 miles away and they are still experiencing turbulence on take-off and landing.
These turbines are designed with 3 blades rather than 2 - which increases turbulence. The science of these things is that energy is taken from the wind. This induces a slow air stream at hub height. With larger faster blades the wind tip speed vastly exceeds the hub speed and each tip produces its own vortices. There is a difference between near turbulence and far turbulence and it can take miles before the wind returns to its original linear pattern. I could go on.
The planning consultants omitted Fishburn Airfield from the aviation section of their impact report and concentrated on radar clutter. In this section of the report Fishburn Airfield was even removed from the map!
Furthermore, the circuit shown is false. It has been enlarged so that the wind turbines fall within the circuit rather than on it. You would need the fuel tank of a jumbo jet to fly round this thing. The true circuit (agreed with the council) has been flown for over 20 years without serious incident or significant overflights. Fishburn does not get overflight complaints and has excellent relations with all the neighbouring villages.
The airfield hosts local events and recently had over 2,000 local people attending a wings & wheels event with: classic cars, bikes & buses; historic military vehicles, re-enactments, a warbird aerobatic display, a display by the Twisters aerobatic team, warbird pleasure flights, professional firework display, hangar rock concert, BBQ and licensed bar.
This year an aircraft restoration working museum is moving to Fishburn with multiple historic aircraft to display. A King Air 200 flight simulator will be going live shortly. New hangars are being built. Local school & college educational trips and collaboration are being arranged and the local community are increasingly using the new airfield cafe facilities which is great for encouraging new pilots and community relations. It is also being used for talks, meetings and presentations.
This local resource is under threat and there will be an effect on the local economy, local & regional suppliers, 20+ jobs by the end of 2016, education, event hosting, sport, recreational and amenity value.
Green is one thing. But building 2 huge turbines that put peoples lives at risk, destroy a valuable resource and can't even be connected to the grid because it is already at capacity in this area is utter madness.
There is good reason to oppose this development.
And don't even get me started on 18% efficiency, 10-40% less electricity generated than individual turbine calculations, continual breakdowns, eyesore's destroying our landscape, genuine medical concerns over shadow flicker, vibration & noise (2 houses within 300mtrs who were either not consulted or who's objections were 'lost'), imported rather than manufactured in the UK, high transport CO2 emissions (bunker fuel - look it up), etc. There are far more efficient and cleaner ways of going green.
Sorry for the rant.