Folland: Flights, planes have changed since purchase
Posted
With respect to Gib Foulkes’s letter (“Buyers should know what they are getting,” Sun City West Independent, Dec. 30, 2020) about Luke Air Force Base and noise, Luke was founded in 1941 during the era of propeller driven aircraft, which were relatively quiet.
When my wife and I moved to Sun City West, about 15 years ago, the field was host to F-16s, a relatively quiet single engine aircraft. A developer wanted to build a subdivision near Luke, so the flight pattern was changed, routing the planes over our house. Still not so bad.
When the F-35s, a twin engine aircraft, were about to be introduced, it was noted that they were significantly noisier than the F-16s. Now, when they do early morning engine turns, we can hear them. When the flight schedule starts around 7:10 a.m., the noise when they come over the house rattles it. It drowns out the radio, you can’t have the windows open and you can’t sit outside. This continues all day, sometimes until after 10 p.m.
As a note, a remote airfield in Texas was under consideration, but Arizona’s representatives made sure the planes came to Luke. By the way, I made five extended deployments working on the flight deck of aircraft carriers and I had my fill of jet noise years ago. Selling and moving is not an option.
