Helicopter Noise - Does it bother anyone else?
In the past month, I’ve been awakened by helicopters many times between 6-8AM, and hear them buzzing all the time. Wrote CB6 and found out that: Helicopters flying below 1500-feet are not in regulated FAA airspace. They fly by what are called “visual flight rules” which relies on the judgement of the individual pilot. The…
In the past month, I’ve been awakened by helicopters many times between 6-8AM, and hear them buzzing all the time. Wrote CB6 and found out that:
Helicopters flying below 1500-feet are not in regulated FAA airspace. They fly by what are called “visual flight rules” which relies on the judgement of the individual pilot. The helicopters are subject to FAA regulation in terms of inspections of equipment, etc. but there are no rules that establish formal flight paths or govern local impacts. When I called 311, I was referred to the EDC (?????) and was told the heavy traffic was probably private beach going helicopters. I think lack of regulation is even worse than the noise, and would like to gather people who are interested in having helicopters regulated when flying over residential areas.
I did fixed wing. But you still needed (then, dunno about now) 20 hours minimum in rotary wing to get the sign off. And, even then, about the only gig I could have gotten was as a fish spotter because most choppers are turbines. And that training is where it gets REALLY expensive.
Shouldda done it in the military like my brother.
Thanks, Wintaki. I really think the problem in my nabe (Prospect Heights) is with traffic copters and I have a great deal less sympathy for their mission (gasp/surprise: there are back ups at GAP) than for the work of the NYPD.
Steve – look into flying fixed wing aircraft instead of that interests you. A lot cheaper then a helicopter.
Wintaki: your long-winded rant is rendered worthless by the idiotic comparison of traffic noise to that of a hovering low-altitude helicopter!
Possibly the stupidest thing I’ve seen written on this blog – which is truly saying something…
NeoGrec – sorry if I came across a bit hard. I am just fed up lately with all the TSA crap and other stuff effecting aviation when people don’t know what they are doing.
For example, the TSA recently damaged a bunch of airplanes by trying to break into them to test the security. They damaged a very important external instrument that is critical to the onboard flight computers and could have caused serious safety problems if not caught by the pilots:
http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/PilotsFuriousOver_TSADamagedAirplanes_198632-1.html
They have these newly hired TSA guys who have no idea what they are doing.
Anyway, done ranting…
Yes, I agree, a helicopter hovering over your house is very bad. Unless it is some kind of police activity, it should NOT be hovering anywhere over brooklyn. I had this happen to me sometime in the middle of the night a few months ago and yes, it is very annoying. However, this should not occur often. If it is regular flights they should just be passing overhead at 100MPH.
I would be concerned if helicopters are routinely hovering over your area.
It helps that I like helicopters. I even took some lessons in a Robinson R22 with hopes of maybe jumping careers. But the lessons were prohibitively expensive.
CH11231, you can also try the Helicopter Complaint Hotline, 212-312-3964, but that tool may have been abandoned. It is/was operated by EDC because the Economic Development Corporation leases the major heliports. EDC and the mayor’s office had a helicopter noise task force back in the late-90s but I suspect that has all faded away.
Service was expanded at the Downtown Manhattan Heliport (DMH), on the East River, a year or so ago. The operator also initiated flights to the local airports, including passenger and baggage screening that allows air travelers to get screened at the comparatively uncrowded heliport and proceed directly to their gate. I suspect that this has led to an increase in rotary wing aircraft (sorry, had to throw that in once) traffic.
I believe that the Helicopter Noise Coalition is made up of helicopter fleet owners and concerned others who seek to self-impose “good neighbor” policies. For example, the group agreed on standards for how long traffic helicopters should “idle” in one location. I think Steve gave you a good tip. And wintaki, have a class of wine of something…you’re wound way too tight.
Wintaki: How close do you live to a regular helicopter path? Have you even ever heard a helicopter hovering directly over your home at 6AM? Believe me, we have Fresh Direct trucks and speeding cars on our block all the time. But the noise from a chopper is something else altogether. We have the right to complain and we damn well will!
Hi,
“I think lack of regulation is even worse than the noise”
With all due respect, please learn the facts before talking such nonsense. This is the problem with this country today, everyone thinks they are an expert when they really do not understand the issues. Same thing goes for our elections!
“oh my god how could these helicopters fly without being regulated???”. Is that your answer to everything? Have the government regulate MORE? They need to do less. Too many of our freedoms are already curtailed because of people like YOU who call for action without a clue.
Now, first of all, it has nothing to do with regulation. *ALL* aircraft are regulated and governed by the FARs. What you are really want to complain about is the airspace. There is a class B airspace over Brooklyn that is part of the NY terminal area. This class B airspace starts at about 1,100 feet over most of Brooklyn (over some parts the floor is 1,500). The airspace extends from this lower altitude up to 7,000 feet.
To fly inside this airspace requires a clearance from ATC and is generally only obtained when landing or taking off from JFK/LGA/EWR. This is *VERY* busy airspace.
All flights are either VFR or IFR. Most local flights are typically flown under VFR, or Visual Flight Rules. VFR flights must generally remain clear of the class B airspace. So to fly anywhere in the area, there are basically two choices. Fly below the class B floor, or fly above it. It is not practically possible to fly above 7000 feet for local flights, so the only real option is to stay under the class B – that means flying under 1,500 feet or so. This floor is so low due to the very close proximity of LGA and JFK. So sorry, there is really nothing that can be done.
Now, aircraft should generally fly routes that do not take them directly over your neighborhood if possible. A responsible pilot would try to minimize this (after all, if there is an engine failure, being over populated area does not help his engine out landing chances). But depending on where he is coming from and where he is going, there may not be much of a choice. The class B just south of JFK is down to 500 feet and it is very dangerous to fly that low incase of any inflight problems (altitude is your friend in emergencies).
If the local class B had a floor of 3000 feet or so, I’m sure most of these flights would fly higher, but they can’t so that’s why they typically fly 1000 feet or so.
I can hop in my plane and fly circles over your house at 1500 feet if I want. But I would never do that and most pilots wouldn’t either.
Do you complain about all the traffic noise? Idiots driving down the street at 50 miles an hour or revving the engines of their really loud motorcycle engines? How about that damn Fresh Direct truck idleing outside your house while you get your delivery? That annoys me one hell of a lot more then a helicopter flying past my house.
Air traffic, especially helicopters, are vital to the NYC area. Get use to it or move to the mountains of west virginia. However, I will give you that helicopters flying at that early hour should certainly do their best to fly up the river and avoid populated areas. But many times there is no other way, due to airspace, etc. I’m guessing you are not a pilot so you have no idea how complicated the airspace in the NY area is.