Wiley's letter is almost spot on.

The complete story can be read at snopes.com.

The response from the original complainer followed a few days later. I'd copy and paste it here but snopes doesn't allow it. You'll just have to follow the link above and read it yourself.

Noise complaint
 

Working in AMB a few years ago with an English controller, two F111's departed for a low navex out around Dalby etc, when the phone rang. A lady wanted to make a noise complaint.

English accent ATC "Hello, this is FLTLT XXXX, what appears to be the problem madam"

Woman " The problem is that I just had the **** scared out of me by those bloody noisy jets, flying low over my house"

English ATC " I see, did they have any red stars on their tails"

Woman " No of course not "

English ATC " Then there is no problem madam, there ours, good night" and he hung up. :D

Some time our North Western NSW military flying school received a call from an irate doctor at the local hospital complaining about those noisy CT4s flying over the hospital.
For those who don’t know the CT4 is about as noisy as a C172, and at about 1,500FT AO is scarcely audible above the ambient noise of the activity ion the town below.
At the time we were conducting a series of famil flights for the local Army Reserve unit personnel which consisted of a lap around the town and maybe a few aeros well North of the town. The lap around the town took us almost directly over the hospital, however as previously stated we were operating no lower than about 1,500FT AO. The doctor in question assumed we had changed the route to our training area. Well, about six aircraft on a Friday for about four weeks would obviously give that impression.:rolleyes:
For those that don’t know our training area is to the South West of the airfield while the town is to the East.
The fact that we have DHC8s in and out about six times/day, LR35’s about twice a day, bank runners early in the morning and late in the afternoon, various and numerous another aircraft of all types doing everything from charter to training, all which would have flown much closer to the town (and therefore the hospital) during approach and departure didn’t register with this Einstein.:ugh:
Our conversation ended shortly after I questioned him on how he dealt with the Westpac rescue helicopter (BK117, B212, B412) landing on the helipad situated on the hospital grounds nearly every day. Obviously far less noisy than a CT4 flying 1,500FT above him!:}
I think some people just resent the fact that we have a military.
Then there was the dropkick who lived in D442 (helicopter training area near Canberra), knowing full well that his property was within a military helicopter training area who threatened to shoot us.

Ahh Captain SD, D442... (and the even more interesting but only rarely visited D442E).

It wasn't always a one way street as to who was culpable when complaints were made. I (to this day embarrassedly) recall doing a practice auto onto a farmer's freshly reaped (but not yet harvested) paddock (with all the cut crop very neatly arrayed in pleasing-to-the-eye rows, dark green/pale green repeated ad infinitum to the far away treeline.

...until Muggins wound the throttle on just before going into the flare (perhaps a little later than SOPs dictated) and happily flew away to continue his sortie.

...leaving behind a very large 'crop circle' that would have sent any self-respecting UFO nut into a slavering fit.

The farmer never complained, but Muggins had to look at that very untidy field for the next week.

------

Anyone else recall the "mushrooming sorties" in the same D442 every winter? Best (and biggest) mushies I have ever seen (and eaten). The size of dinner plates. Dozens and dozens of 'em.

Agreed. Received a whine from some vineyard in Mudgee in the late 90's. They were having a music and wine festival of some description and complained most bitterly that the whole thing had been ruined by a Caribou overflying the place.

It turned the graceful lady of the skies had overflown Mudgee enroute to Amberley at 9,000ft (about 7000ft AGL). Now I can attest that a pair of P&W R2000s at cruise power aren't all that quiet but puleeeze! I enjoyed drafting the response....never heard another thing. :)

How much did you get then?:} (Sorry, couldn't help myself!)
QUOTE]Now I can attest that a pair of P&W R2000s at cruise power aren't all that quiet but puleeeze![/QUOTE] Yeah, but it would have taken a couple of hours to fly over the place!:}
Should have organised a "route trainer" into Mudgee every day for the next week. Give 'em something to really whinge about!

Yes, but Caribou pilots do it slowly and get in where it's short, hot, wet and sticky.

Question: How do you tell the Caribou pilot at flight planning?
Answer: He's the one with the calendar

I love how we've moved this from fighter to transport.:ok: :E

You mean fighters via helicopters (when Ronnie had 'em) to transports.

The Caribou... the only fixed wing aircraft known to man that can suffer a birdstrike.

...from behind!

Helicopters.....hmmmmm......now don't get me started on weird flying machines. :p

That 'maybe' true, but it's also one of the few that can reverse and do this...:ok:



God bless the 'Bou

I've told the story before here on Pprune, but I'll repeat it - I saw the 'bou do something even more impressive than that. (I think it was) Al Field was doing his final rehearsal for the '71 Richmond airshow in the 'bou and there was a 30 gusting to 40 knot wind blowing, more or less straight down the runway (R/W10). (Which made the staying in front of the crowd in the aeros sequences really interesting!)

I was at the threshold waiting (with a 'bou in finals with a wind like that, it was more a matter of "waiting... waiting...") to get airborne and Al brought the 'bou in and plonked it onto the threshold marking - and that's where it stopped. It may have rolled for four or five feet, but the aircraft came to a stop still on the bars.

The wind wasn't nearly so strong on the day of the display, so the short field landing wasn't nealy so impressive that day.

Landing Backwards
 

With a little more wind strength the Bou should be able to do a landing backwards.

Has this been attempted by anyone in a fixed wing?
Call to the tower would have to be "Bou on zero length final". or any other suggestions?

An instructor of mine told me that when the wind was sufficient they would do an ILS approach, then reverse back up it halfway through.

Ah the Bou.....check the fuel, fill up the oil...

Re the oil and recips... A pre 'bou recall.... Paxing on the TSF Gooney Bird from Singapore to Butterworth and seeing a large (and I mean LARGE) amount of oil spilling out from one of the donks all over the upper surface of the wing.

Call Loadie over to point it out to him.

He looks at me over the din as if to say "So?"

I shout: "We're losing a lot of oil from that engine. Would you tell the captain?"

"Nah, nothing to worry about, sir. If we're losing that much, it means we've still got some left!" And returned to his seat.

Those illustrious Boudrivers shocked me on a major exercise once, when we were doing mission planning for a large package, and the Bou co-pilot asked us to stop whilst he got out his UBD street directory to check his nav planning!! True story.

Yep, I have been called as "lost contact" in a Caribou on radar as there was no "moving target" due strong headwinds on approach.

Yep, a lightish Caribou on a STOL arrival can stop on the threshold with a decent headwind.

Yep, 18 gallons of oil in EACH engine oil tank PLUS what was in the lines and the sump. 1.5 gallons/hour was acceptable burn.

It had a face that only a mother could love, it looked absolutely graceful airborne, was satisfying to operate into short strips and smelled like old socks - but I loved it. Last look will be in TVL in November. http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-sad010.gif