Air shows draw people from all over to watch the fantastic aerial maneuvers and to check out the aircraft, both military and civilian. Yet some people seem amazed that jet noise occurs at the airports where they are held.‘There’s an Air Force base here,’ say annoyed cops to people calling 911 about jet noiseThe police at Dover, Delaware posted the following on Facebook:
We can’t believe we have to say this, but please do not call the police department or 911 about the jet noise from the Thunder Over Dover air show. It is a complete waste of our resources and you are potentially putting people at risk who really need help.
You live in Dover... there's an Air Force Base here.
Enjoy the sound of freedom for the next few days 🇺🇸 ✈️ 🇺🇸. This event is great for our city.
My thinking is that airshows are announced and publicized well in advance. If you chose to live near one of the largest airbases and don't want to hear the (wonderful) noise, leave town for the weekend!
More interesting ON bases. I lived in housing on a base that was not an air base, but helicopters were always coming and going to and from the Marine barracks, and they always came extremely close to leaving tire track on my roof.
We live close to a civilian airport that the air shows appear at, and when they have the military teams those will fly out right over my house. As it is, there is an air show going on right now a few miles from my house, and even without military aircraft I can hear a lot of the action. Does not bother me at all.
Flying fascinates me a lot. So I'm willing to tolerate the ''noise'' - after all: it's not each day of the year :) My 'moral' dilemma is that I'm also strongly advcocating the reduction of unnecessary emissions.
Complaining about noise near an airport is like the people around here that built to close to the water on the flood plain. Now they are complaining the town isn't doing enough to prevent flooding of their houses.
I understand that. But for the military, the training is extremely important (watch Top Gun) and air shows adds incentives. It also helps that the public can see the planes, weapons, and pilots who are protecting them. The civilian part of the show usually has past military performing, but is mainly entertainment for the people who love watching them. And as important as aiming at carbon neutral is, there will always be people who find ways to enjoy life while messing with the carbon. Consider the millions of people who hook up a trailer of snowmobiles or 4 wheel sand dune climbers, gas them all up, then head out all over the country.
My father flew CF104s in the RCAF. He participated in quite a few airshows and in most ways they provided zero tactical training. Where they good recruitment tools? Yes. But I fear we cannot justify an airshow as a recruitment tool only. For airshows to survive they will have to find a way to become sustainable. For the military can find much more useful ways to burn fuel than airshows. Like real training. As will other forms of entertainment like the snowmobiles you mentioned. We have to begin to view things differently.
Well... I'm Air Force so.. I'm a bit biased 😅 I love air shows. Thinking that people actually call the police to complain about the noise makes me chuckle.
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