Tweed-New Haven Airport: The sound of silence. Part II.

⚠️Disclaimer: I am not a representative of the FAA. My efforts around the Tweed-New Haven Airport discussion are not endorsed or supported by HVN or any of its affiliates. ⚠️

Numbers matter as much as perspective.

This is Part II of an opinion piece (supported by factual data) in regards to airport noise. Needless to say, the Part I Op-Ed piece met with vehement opposition from a handful of anti-airport persons. Their primary argument against my commentary was, “You don’t live in East Haven”. How exactly does that stern accusation apply to the science of aircraft noise and aircraft operations? It doesn’t.

I am writing as to how airport and aircraft noise is measured…and it doesn’t matter whether I live in Barkhamsted or East Haven…noise is still measured and behaves in a particular way. Facts don’t care where you live.

To ask these FACT attackers to comprehend the point of my Op-Ed piece is impossible. So I wont. That was and never will be my purpose in this discussion. The reasonable, concerned and curious stakeholder to Tweed is my purpose. The tenets of my Op-Ed Part I piece were:

1. To illustrate that there is a way to measure noise properly. See CFR 13 Part 36.

2. To illustrate the numerous different kinds of metrics used to measure noise (Dba, DNL, SNEL, LMax etc).

3. To make a direct and pertinent correlation that aircraft operations ( number of takeoffs and landings) at an airport relate to the subsequent noise exposure to the community.

Numbers tell a story.

As a reminder:

Why is this ⬆️ important? If an airport has no operations, well, then it is perfectly quiet. If an airport is incredibly busy, than it is relatively noisy…think CUMULATIVE. The standard for noise measurement at airports is not individual “street science” and screenshots (as evidenced by the anti-airport crowd photo above). The current standard for measuring Airport Noise is cumulative (and weighted) noise data. Can your iPad do that?

The FAA and EPA standard metric for noise measurement is DNL (Long Duration Cumulative Exposure). This is exactly why running around town with your tape recorder gathering “noise screenshots” (with unapproved equipment I might add) is not solely relevant to noise generated by an airport.

This cumulative noise issue is an immensely important and necessary fact to consider in regard to aircraft noise. Airport opponents don’t seem to consider number of airport operations in their “studies”. Instead, they brazenly show off their Single Event noise captures as “data” and offer it as the sole relevant issue of aircraft noise (all from their highly tuned iPads no less). They are only showing you one small piece of the puzzle.

Further, noise must be measured from a variety of locations. Why? Noise propagates differently depending on topography, weather and where the listener happens to be. This is why the adopted noise measurement standard by the FAA (adopted from ICAO Annex 16) includes specific locations from which to take your measurements. Where you measure noise matters. It’s in the rules.

What’s that I hear?
Tweed-New Haven Airport is neither “perfectly still” nor “constant hustle and bustle”. As you will see, the attached traffic data set shows that Tweed-New Haven Airport is a fairly inactive airport who’s cumulative noise impact to the community is not constant by any stretch of the imagination.

Claims of deafening roars from above..the Earth shaking…windows rattling…plaster cracking…those are all perspectives. Unfortunately, they are subjective rather than objective. While one’s subjectivity does indeed matter in this discourse, so too does objective data. This article is about Objectivity. Claims made by airport protesters are exaggerations. These groups use sensational words, hype, rhetoric and improper methods to feather their nest. Could an airport with such little aircraft activity be such a culprit? I have provided you the data for you to decide.

Boeing 737 Operations ⬆️
One average, Tweed-New Haven Airport averages 14 daily operations (7 takeoffs and 7 landings) of Boeing 737 Aircraft. While the average number of 737 operations is not the actual per day operations, it still puts into perspective certain claims of grandeur. On certain days of the week, there are significantly less 737 operations at Tweed than on others…and this matters when using cumulative metrics to measure airport noise. My point in using averages is to solidify that the number of operations at HVN airport is a real consideration in noise measurement. Using cumulative metrics is exactly the approved and regulated standard of airport noise measurement.

In closing.

What this community discussion requires is reasonable participants. The current flock of airport-protestors has proven to miss the mark! With just a little bit of effort, Airport opponents could use ALL the provided data and resources themselves to know and understand the true issue. But alas, why would they? Would it help or hinder their cause?

In this written piece, I have merely provided you information on aircraft noise. This information is not of questionable merit; it is fact. The aforementioned references and resources do not warrant debate (as they really exist) nor need raise the question, “where does the author live?” Facts don’t care where you live.