STOP
THE
NOISE
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Courts rule Nuisance is
a State Matter |
What To Do The biggest impediment to getting the aerobatic pilots off your land is to motivate the FAA to get off its butt and to do its job. Most FAA inspectors are pilots themselves. The FAA personnel still largely believe that FAA has the dual roles of promoting aviation while at the same time regulating it. This can't be done. Congress recognized this when, in 1994, it relieved FAA of the task of promoting aviation. FAA however hasn't made the adjustment. Congress doesn't seem to be paying attention. In order for FAA to function properly as a regulator we will first have to expose FAA for failing to enforce the FAR. Find like-minded people in your area. This may take some effort. The last thing FAA will do is try to put you together with others. Letters to the editor are a good way to stimulate discussion and to find others willing to take a stand. STOP the NOISE came together as a result of a meeting at a local town hall organized by three people. We drew over 200 people from a dozen cities and towns. Get a name and get incorporated. You will get more attention and respect as an organization than as a bunch of individuals. Complaints should still come from individuals. The organization should take on the task of being a watchdog to ensure that FAA is performing with due diligence with regard to members' complaints. Get affiliated with a regional or national organization. There are a number of national groups working on different aspects of the aviation problem. Find one that fits your goals and level of aggressiveness. STOP the NOISE welcomes groups of all sizes to join with us as member chapters. Beware of groups that FAA does try to send you to. There is a group in Massachusetts that has been trying to negotiate with pilots for five years. It has gotten them nowhere, yet for some unfathomable reason they continue. It sort of reminds me of the preacher in "War of the Worlds". FAA puts people looking for a solution to the recreational aviation problem in touch with these poor souls. It ties up valuable resources that could have been directed towards meaningful results had they come to us. FAA did a similar thing in Southern California. A group in Orange County, CA was trying to get the aerobatic pilot to leave their community of 30,000 homes. The pilots claim they've flown there for decades before the homes were built. They are, like us, 20 miles from the airport. Riverside FSDO put the homeowners in touch with an aerobatic flight school operator, Mike Church, at Orange County Airport. Mike was to work with the homeowners to resolve the problem. Suddenly FAA was out of the loop. The homeowners were trying to negotiate with a businessman who needed their back yards to continue his business. We tried to counsel them for three years to abandon this foolishness, but to no avail. The group ran out of steam and, thoroughly exhausted, all but disbanded last year. Within a month of this announcement, Mike Church was presented the region's CFI of the Year award by the FAA for, among other things, working to resolve noise problems with local citizens. The moral of the story is simple. This is a fight. Join a group that intends to fight and win. Become active. Do not attempt to negotiate a separate peace with pilots. Any deal you make with any pilot is not binding on other pilots. It is not even binding on the one you made the deal with. The solution lies in fixing the rules so that we, not they are in control of our lands. Not the whiny type of complaining. Leave that for the pilots when they find out you want FAA to enforce the rules. Learn the rules in the FAR. Learn what State laws may apply. Observe violations and file complaints that state what was violated, when and where. Demand that the relevant enforcement agency do it's job. Most of the problems are due to willful lack of enforcement on the part of local FAA inspectors and FAA regional counsels. No corrupt agency can survive for long once the public spotlight is shone upon its willful violations of its own regulations. Some media organization will pick up the story. Get your facts straight. Put together a persuasive storyline. If the media make it a big deal, the politicians won't be far behind. In all communications with the FAA and other regulators, get everything in writing, including their refusal to tell you anything. FAA may make you jump through hoops and use the Freedom Of Information Act to get trivial data. If so, get in writing that they require a FOIA request before sending one in. Find the guy who likes to try to lead you logically down the path of submission (Ever hear "But where will they fly?"). Correspond with him as long as his boss will let him. STOP the NOISE would like to hear about your experience and share your evidence. We are monitoring FAA performance on a local and national level. We've probably heard it before but we'd love to hear it again. What may appear to be local incompetence may be a national pattern of malfeasance and bad faith. STN is collecting documents from all over. If you have correspondence or FOIA data you would like to share please contact STN.
mail@STOPtheNOISE.org
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