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Stop The Noise's Goals, in their own words
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“Stop the Noise mission is to ask for at least prohibition on recreational flying in this area, and, from a longer range perspective, seek to ban recreational flying entirely.” -- Stop The Noise founder William Burgoyne, Groton Landmark, July 2003. --- Stop The Noise describes the organization's goals on their web site, www.stopthenoise.org. Following are direct quotes from that site: "It is the mission of STOP the NOISE to...restor[e] local control over the non-essential, recreational uses of the airspace which is part of our lands." "What we won't tolerate are aerobatics, Sunday flyers, leaf peepers, and flight schools using our airspace." “Our goal is to remove the aerobatic and recreational flyers from the skies over our private property." The site defines "recreational flyers" as sightseers, students engaged in flight training, and aerobatic pilots. "It is not unreasonable for the states to tell the pilots what activities they may not engage in while flying." [apparently Stop The Noise believes that their "not in my back yard" sentiments should override Congressional rulings and federal regulations]. "We believe that if there is to be a recreational flying community, then it must obtain at its own expense areas large enough to accommodate their waste noise" "Aircraft must be channeled into narrow corridors. The unfortunate ones owning those corridors must be compensated… this may mean that not everyone who wants to fly will be able to fly. So be it.” "We are not close to an airport or runway. We live, by choice, in a relatively quiet rural area". [Yet the prime plaintiff in the case, who is also the prosecuting attorney... presumably working pro-bono... lives less than one mile from Moore Army Airfield's runway, and purchased his property when Moore was an active military airport!] The site lists the flight operations the group is not trying to halt: LifeFlight and high altitude transports. Nothing else is listed. But if the group is successful in their bid to shut down local flight schools, who will train the next generation of LifeFlight or airline pilots? The plaintiffs should have a first-hand understanding of the economic benefit of aviation. When the base including Moore Airfield closed, local housing prices plummeted and federal funding for schools also dropped (Boston Globe, June 1, 2002). Hanscom Field, where the defendants are based, is the second busiest airport in New England, generating $100 million of economic impact annually. -------- Many of STN's goals are far fetched and clearly not all of them will be realized. But the group has been steadily applying pressure for several years now, learning from their mistakes, and continually working towards their goals, now with some of their members suing pilots for flying (by their own admission) in accordance with the FARs. Members of the group have already extracted tens of thousands of dollars in the form of legal fees from individual pilots and a flight school for simply flying over or near their communities, and the defendants are exposed to over $1 million of personal liability. The lawsuit they have initiated is ongoing. GALDF needs your support to ensure a positive outcome. [Note: Stop The Noise has recently (March 2004) redesigned their site, removing the links to the pages containing some of the quotes which don't play out particularly well in court or in the press. Those pages may still be available at www.stopthenoise.org/goals.htm and www.stopthenoise.org/problem.htm. In case those pages are deactivated, copies of the unaltered pages can be found here: "Goals" and "Problem"; these pages were not copyrighted.]
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General
Aviation Legal Defense Fund
