Annoyed by jet noise in N.C.? Click to complain

I know it's toough man. I surrendered the best house I ever had because of the jets. Good luck out there.

Ira, that's what makes this so difficult. I contend there is a better way than practicing over the cities of VB and CHES 14 hours a day and/or taking land away from NC and shifting the problem south (or west...) for another OLF that is already doomed due to growing populations. I'll speak out as long as I have to live under this attack of the superhornets. Good luck to you all in the sights of another OLF.

They are landing. It's brief but it is a landing. The ship moves up and down and side to side. Don't shoot the messenger.

They're doing touch and goes and doing their circles over as many houses as possible. I truly believe they do this just because they can, to prove some sort of macho "...we own this town..." point. And this week they brought in the French. I don't what kind of airplane it is but it's just as loud as the Superhornet. (A single vertical tail and delta-like wings...). Last night went until 11pm. As soon as a few "situations" settle I'm out of here. The superhornets have made this part of the city practically uninhabitable. (It wasn't like this prior to the superhornets). Quote me.

Thank you for your support.

Your right. But I don't think the pilots at that stage are able to land on a moving target. I beleive that was the issue raised before. I could be wrong.

At the 2005 BRAC, Virginia politicians to include Myra fought for the superhornet to stay in VB. Myra spoke for VB when she stood in front of BRAC saying Oceana needed to stay open.

ALFA, I accept that you do understand the impact of these planes to people. Many of us have suggested what ur suggesting, train smarter. The Navy insists that an OLF is the only way and that this 2nd OLF is the only answer. IMPASSE. Thank you for sharing ur exp.

The Navy will not show a need that also takes into account all the assets available to them for pilot training. Their statement Fentress ALONE stops any further arguement. Navy, remove the ALONE from your statements and then validate that the Navy does not have the assets to train our pilots. They have the facilities. Oceana is not the future of naval aviation. period.

I don't wish this noise on anyone else. There has to be a better way. Float a barge, put bouys in the water, buy land along the ocean or bay so the jets can circle over the water. It's the 21st century. Let's train then fight like it's 2008, not 1958.

"VB had no choice in the arrival of the Superhornets, NC does."

And we choose no.

Regardless, it would not reduce the jet traffic over PA Plaza.

alfarkas,
The politicians are a major part of the problem. The local government, in this VB and Chesapeake, have a responsibility to support the training mission. The Navy recognizes this responsibility in the same instruction and documentation that they are using to condemn folks at the 2nd OLF.

The local governments have a policing authority that the Navy is only suppose to usurp if that local government cannot or will not enforce.

The mission at Oceana is degraded to the point were the pilots are not getting the training they need. It would be too costly to fix. So the Navy has settled to keep a degraded training facility at Oceana and Fentress because of how the local governments failed to support the mission. The proper thing is to fix Oceana to make it a first rate facility for our pilots. Is that being done? NO. Stay away from the 2nd OLF site.

But it goes beyond blaming the politicians. It was INEVITABLE that VB and CHES would grow, people moved here regardless of the government jobs (truly a no-growth industry anyway). What's the answer? Revert vast acreage to swamp, pig farms and soybean fields? When a baseball team is broken, they change managers, not the entire roster. The answer is innovative training that takes the planes away from population areas during "touch and gos". The noise level inflicted upon Princess Anne Plaza over July 8 - 11 was truly absurd. This is the best they can do? VB had no choice in the arrival of the Superhornets, NC does.

The Navy has told us for too long that a second OLF was not required. So stop the talk about not supporting our pilots. If the Navy showed us they needed this 2nd OLF long time ago, they would have their field right now. The folks at Washington County would have hosted this site, just like any of the other sites on the table now.

This is about the Navy not doing what is proper. The Navy is not willing to tell VB that they either fix the encroachment or we leave. It is too costly for the Navy to fix that screw up. Myra, you have a choice, fix the encroachment or lose the jobs. That is the COURAGE the Navy needs to use. Make the tough choices. There are many communities that will properly host the Navy. It is insane that the Navy continues to fly out of Oceana. That is the problem. Oceana cannot, because of encroachment, perform the mission. Fix that Navy. The pilots MUST always fly around the master jet base. When the mission can no longer be PROPERLY performed, abanon the mission and find anew. That is the proper thing to do. Navy, when will you do the proper thing?

One of the arguements people say is if you do not like the noise, move. Around this 2nd OLF, no one will be there TO move. The Navy is taking the land and booting the people. Around the 2nd OLF, we would be gone. The Navy will not give us the chance to tolerate the noise. According to the Navy, many of you must be removed. They will not, so they should not condemn us, the Navy is not SAFELY training our pilots and does not have a desire to do that, is that a proper sound of freedom?

The Navy proved that they do not need this OLF to support Oceana in the last NEPA study. If the Navy condemns properties around the 2nd OLF, than they must be doing that around Oceana/Fentress. Thats 33,000+ people gone, and 60,000+ more of you being forced to sign restrictive use easements or the Navy just might fee-simple your lands for the good of the Navy and you. That is what is proposed around the 2nd OLF so Oceana/Fentress resid

"People did not mind when the F-18's of the Navy were flying around on 9/11 did they. No they were happy to see them flying instead of some terrorist flying a highjacked plane and crashing it into some place that our loved ones were living or working."

I hate to bring this up. I truly do. No F-18 stopped any jet from hitting it's target that day. In fact, no fighter jet from any service did. 2 toppled the WTC, one hit right in THE PENTAGON, and another was downed by what we believe was a passenger lead attempt at defense. I understand the sentiment and your desire to mislead us by using 9-11, but your jets did not protect us. The mosque leaders did however get relief from low lying jets in Iraq because the noise is so loud the vibrations were damaging their buildings. It appears we are in the wrong country to get relief.

I live almost right beside Fentress Airfield. The jets fly there almost every day and although it is loud it is the sound of freedom. Those guys and girls that fly those planes need the practice to protect our freedom. People did not mind when the F-18's of the Navy were flying around on 9/11 did they. No they were happy to see them flying instead of some terrorist flying a highjacked plane and crashing it into some place that our loved ones were living or working. I personnaly love that sound and look up and love the fact that although they are loud and flying real low. Heck at least they are our planes flying. Imagine what the our lives would be like if you looked at those loud planes and they were here dropping bombs on us. If you don't like the noise then MOVE! But love the fact that those dedicated pilots have taken an oath to protect you.

Perfect example is tonight! NC residents, wish you were here. It's 8:30pm, only 1 and a half hour to go. They've been overhead since 8am this morning. The A-6s, F-4s, F-14s NEVER flew this far west of Oceana. I've lived here since 1986. I know of which I speak. Superhornets don't belong over the city. It's practice. Oh yes, I forget the wonderful odor of JP-5 (jet fuel). Never got a whiff of that prior to the superhornets either. The city got screwed in this deal, and nothing I can do about it except move. There's my freedom.

"Thankfully, I don't live in the GN Rd/Va Bch Blvd area where the planes can't be more than 100' off the ground as they "turn final" - the noise is even more deafening. The crash, when it comes, is going to be nasty..."
Amen to that, swd2k
I live right off of the corner of Great Neck and Va Beach Blvd and I can attest to how loud it is. I wear ear plugs when I go outside when they are doing touch and gos.
I do have to say that it's not everyday and it is something I have learned to live with, but if I had a small child to worry about that might be different. I live on a very tight and fixed budget so, no, I can't just move.
I've lived around jet noise from F-14's my entire life, but nothing compares to the roar of an F-18 superhornet. NOTHING!
If I lived in NC I would do just about anything to make sure the NAVY came no where near my home with those jets.

Fight like hell NC to keep those jets out of your area!! I’m sick and tired to hear all this crap about “freedom.” It’s not freedom but imprisonment to have these obnoxious FA-18 super hornets screaming overhead. Years back we had only F14’s and then the FA-18s came out, so the playing field changed. I glad all those people won that lawsuit not long ago about the “new” jet noise, and I’m enjoying the fact that BRAC is watching all this closely, as they said.. . “The future of aviation is not Oceana. . . “ And just think of the money of ours being wasted on looking for that “band aid” called an OLF. The F-35 (JSF) will not even be stationed at Oceana so it’s will no longer be a MJB. When you consider Virginia Beach is the most populous city in Hampton Roads, and we’ve go jets overhead, one marvels at the stupidity of the Navy for continuing this situation. Can these morons park a mothballed ship out in the Atlantic and do their stuff?

My dear North Carolinians, read how some Virginians like to deride your partiotism and insist your complaints are nothing more than crying. Then you can ask yourself why the sudden need and sacrafice has been asked of us. Isn't it indeed their poor planning and lack of tolerance for the noise that brings it to your doorstep? If they are so patriotic why are we having this discussion. The developement around Fentress is fairly new. The majority began well after this issue was raised in VA. They simply want to dump the problem on you while retaining the benefits. FIGHT!

I have news for your Freedom Freaks- we are not free. When you can't live in your home in peace from head splitting noise, when it's legal for the government to wiretap anyone they wish, with the myriad of laws that intrude onto your civil rights get passed everyday, that isn't freedom.
We can get lost in semantics (that's the correct definition of words,) but if you pull your head out of the sand and stop the macho bravado of the war machine, WAKE UP and get real, you will see that we are not free.
Freedom is when everyone in this planet can live their truth according to their life and standards and be respected without being thrown in jail or penalized for it.
Freedom is protection from harassment.
Freedom is everyone having the right to food, housing and education regardless of status in life.
The old patriarchal mindset is a thing of the past. Get with the future. Read the dictionary and learn the truth behind some words.

Sure the jet base was here long before all the homes and encroachment, but I don't think anyone could have ever known that we'd reach the level of noise that the F/A-18 Superhornet can generate. What's been done about that? NOTHING.

No, the jets don't fly every day or even every night, but when they do fly, it is pretty unbearable. I live just off First Colonial road, and I can sit on my deck and watch plane after plane after plane come by so close that I can almost see the color of the pilots' eyes when they pass. The deck shakes, the glass rattles, nothing can be heard in conversation, on the television, on the phone - nothing. It passes, then another comes about 30-45 seconds behind it as they do touch-and-gos in the pattern. This will go on most nights starting about 6 or 7pm and end well after 10:00pm. Ever hear of Chinese torture??? A plane a minute for 4+ hours = Chinese torture!

Thankfully, I don't live in the GN Rd/Va Bch Blvd area where the planes can't be more than 100' off the ground as they "turn final" - the noise is even more deafening. The crash, when it comes, is going to be nasty...

87 Canadian soldiers dead in Afghanistan. How are they not paying for the protection of the world's freedom?

It's simply a matter of shifting their training habits. There should be absolutely no need in this day and age to practice "...race track oval patterns...600 feet altitude..." over any population area. Super Hornets have ruined my peace and quiet here in the Princess Anne Plaza section of VB. NC citizens, don't sit still. We had no choice over Super Hornet noise, you do. Good Luck.

Not only will you not hear the TV, you won't sleep well (if at all), it will scare the life out of your pets and babies, (and I've seen animals and children traumatized by the sound), the levels of this jet noise will keep you and everyone else on their last nerve. It will makes your ears ring hours after the noise has stopped. Jet noise can cause hearing loss. WHen flying over schools it deters students from learning at their full potential.
WAKE UP! =All the pro-jet noise people are totally ignorant and in denial about how hazardous this noise is.
I won't go into the crash potentials, emissions standards and damage to the natural habitats because I know that is way down on the list of importance of the military. Look what they've done to the dolphins and whales with their sonic testing in the ocean.
There are solutions to this problem and everyone can win if the military is just willing to do things differently.

Us in VA Beach deal with it all day every day. From 8 am to well past midnight. What they call the "Sound of Freedom" is just a nuisance to all of us. Especially when you buy a home with the disclaimer that “the jets rarely come through here, you wont even notice them”. Well when you have chronic migraines and cluster headache you know when you are waken up in the middle of the night in massive pain. I hope that NC doesn’t have to suffer like we do. I don’t see why the jets can just practice their flying out into the ocean and leave us alone.

When I called to report F-18s flying directly over my home, the Navy refused to take the complaint stating that they were Air Force jets. I told them I see they were F-18s as I was very familiar w/ the jet having lived at the oceanfront. They refused to take my complaint. I beleive this is to skew the numbers of complaints. They are trying to down play the impact of the noise. We know they have been flying low for months trying to probe us for tolerance.

Do not cry over an hour of lost television when the trade-off is to have skilled and prepared pilots ready and willing to defend our country. I have worked and lived near jet noise to the point that it became a normal occurance to pause mid-sentence for a jet to go overhead before continuing your thought. While I would hate to be woken up by the noise in the dead of night, during the normal waking hours I see no issue in a little bit of jet noise.

Get used to it...it's the sound of freedom! It's about time that the North Carolinians living near Southeast Virginia have to endure what this is all about. Sort of like the Canadians who have the U.S.'s protection all the time, but don't have to pay for it. It's a small sacrifice to ensure that our pilots are ready to defend YOUR FREEDOM.