An Open Letter to All Sufferers of Aviation Arrogance

I ask for all concerned Sufferers of Aviation Arrogance to realize this issue in not airport noise, it is aviation noise. I live many miles from any major airport and experience hundreds and often thousands of aviation disturbances every day. Many are over 60 decibels in what used to be a quiet rural environment. Right now at 12:30 AM Thursday January 28 I am listening to jet over flights about every two minutes [inside my house with all windows closed].

I am trying to understand how to tackle this problem but find no one or no agency represents us on the ground. Aviation has a big bad government agency stonewalling any effort to understand the problem.

Could those of you that are more knowledgeable then me please suggest to the small community of aviation sufferers how we might use our collective energies to mount a credible fight?

At least speak to this problem as a national / international issue, not a neighborhood airport matter. This further divides our meager efforts.

Thank you,

Phillip Gilbert

Boycott Aviation Now

I have followed a learning curve over the past months trying to understand the pending struggle with the aviation industry for the skies and our health. One thing is certain. Aviation is winning and without challenge.

There are many reasons for our complacency in the face of challenges that far exceed those created by other battles for the public good. One recent example was the unregulated tobacco industry. Leveling the playing field regarding the issues of tobacco took several decades and the battle is far from over. Smoking bans in public places is recent for many areas of the country. Smoking was allowed and accepted everywhere as recently as the 1980’s.

People liked to smoke and many remain addicted. Medical doctors endorsed their chosen brands in television ads. Educated people argued against scientific findings that revealed links to cancer and other life threatening maladies. The same rancor currently ensues over the matters of global climate change.

There are many examples of modern cultures blindly consuming and living with products that were later found to be carcinogens. Asbestos was once a modern and benign miracle product. Formaldehyde is another slightly obscure carcinogen that lingers in almost every modern household. Mercury is still pumped into children and forged into cavity ridden teeth.

And we should not forget lead. Much effort was made in the 1970’s and 80’s to rid our culture of this very dangerous element. Except for highly leaded fuel [avgas] that remains the standard fuel for general aviation.

Which brings me back to the subject at hand. What is so exceptional about aviation? Maybe because aircraft manufacturers are a major component of the military industrial complex? Maybe law makers are disproportionately wealthy and thus likely to be pilots or benefit from aviation in special ways? Maybe we all want to be ‘jetsetters’.

I have listened to several interviews of Bill McKibben, climate change environmentalist. Mr. McKibben, bless his heart, always mentions how many miles he’s traveled over recent periods of time. This is from an educated man that understands the ravages of global climate change yet does not sense the incongruency of his beliefs and actions. Maybe he believes his efforts are worth the cost and incongruency. Sounds like exceptionalism to me.

And then there is the culture itself. I recently read a major vacuum cleaner designer / manufacturer makes separate models for America. Know why? The American models are louder because Americans equate noise with power!

How bad is aviation? We know that even low levels of jet noise causes an elevation in blood pressure and hyper tension. We know exhaust from jet engines creates some of the deadliest carcinogens know to science. We know high levels of noise cause aggressive behavior. We know that tiny levels of lead can permanently damage a child’s brain. These are facts.

But what about the large communities in major cities that are blasted day and night by the noise and pollution of aviation. Is it simply a coincidence that areas of significant gang violence in Los Angeles fall beneath the flight patterns of LAX airport. Every major city has a similar relationship. Coincidence? Considering the many know facts related to health issues prompted by aviation can we really believe these are coincidences? Can a civilization afford to overlook these types of coincidences?

Aviation remains basically an unregulated industry with the punitive and well funded arm of the FAA defending and promoting the industry down to the most minuscule facility. Anytime there is a conflict between citizens and aviation there will always be the battle cry; ‘if the peasants cause trouble for aviation the FAA will step in and cancel any advances made.’

There are many examples of aviation exceptionalism. Ground citizens cannot identify individual aircraft as identification is not required to be visible from the ground. Even if you could discern the tail wing ID number FAA considers ownership information to be confidential. Hey, they are part of the military industrial complex, aren’t they?

Helicopters can fly anywhere they want. They can hover right over your house for hours and there is nothing any ground citizen can do.

This is just a small set of justifications for a Boycott Aviation Now effort.

What can be done to support sanity in our skies? We need to communicate with our neighbors, friends and coworkers. We need to write our newspapers and email news programs in an effort to educated a very illiterate public. Everyone needs to know how often aviation is supported by our purchases and decisions and what aviation means to our health and the health of our children.

We need to create a ‘bank’ of basic letters ready for personalizing and forwarding to all that will listen.

We need bumper stickers that say:

Boycott

Aviation

N ow

A Rogue Industry

Some would say the airline industry is a rogue industry. Maybe some questions would help determine the truth:


Can a citizen influence where airlines fly? No!

Can a citizen influence when airline fly? No!

Must an airline respond to complaints of noise? No!

Can any aircraft fly over your home anytime at any loudness? Yes!

Are airlines and airports subsidized by the taxpayer? Yes!

Does general aviation comply to lead free fuel regulations? No?

Can a citizen readily identify an aircraft? No, or with difficulty.

Can a State regulate aircraft on behave of it's citizens? No!

Can a State regulate aircraft noise? No!

Are airlines responsible to any agency regarding citizens on the ground? No!

How did the aviation industry become so special? How are they different from a 'normal' citizen?

If I drive a vehicle without a recognizable and traceable license I would be ticketed or arrested. Have you ever tried to identify an airplane? If you can determine the ID your are very lucky indeed. But say you get lucky, what is the next step? A group recently went to court to obtain aircraft ownership information. This was after trying to obtain this information via the Freedom of Information Act. The FAA maintains this information must be kept secret for reasons of privacy. Wow, these folks can fly over my [and your] house anytime, over and over, and their identity is protected by a taxpayer funded federal agency.

I own a 1964 Studebaker Avanti. Nice car! Of course I can't obtain leaded fuel. No problem. I understand the importance of keeping lead out of the environment. So I rebuild the engine at considerable cost so I can use unleaded fuel. Or if I was willing to break federal law I could try to get LEADED fuel at any airport. Essentially all general aviation aircraft still use leaded fuel! Think about that next time you are overflown. Why is aviation so special?

Looks rogue to me.

Jet Noise Kills

Based on conversations with friends and associates I have found the relationship between human health and jet noise difficult to communicate. Based on several studies the human body's negative connection to jet noise is made with the stress hormone cortisol as secreted by the adrenal glands. Under normal circumstances cortisol is responsible for the 'fight or flight' response. A problem develops when this hormone is stimulated over a period of time. An instantaneous secretion of cortisol protects humans from accidents and disaster. A prolonged secretion causes stress related damage and disease.

For example:
· Impaired cognitive performance
· Suppressed thyroid function
· Blood sugar imbalances such as hyperglycemia
· Decreased bone density
· Decrease in muscle tissue
· Higher blood pressure
· Lowered immunity and inflammatory responses in the body, slowed wound healing, and other health consequences
· Increased abdominal fat, which is associated with a greater amount of health problems than fat deposited in other areas of the body. Some of the health problems associated with increased stomach fat are heart attacks, strokes, the development of metabolic syndrome, higher levels of "bad" cholesterol (LDL) and lower levels of "good" cholesterol (HDL), which can lead to other health problems!

Conditions listed above are epidemic in our society. The relationship of these conditions is well know.

Go to this site for additional information: http://stress.about.com/od/stresshealth/a/cortisol.htm

I tend a hobby farm and use power tools. Part of my work [aka play] process involves protection of life, limb and hearing. I use two layers of hearing protection, both OSHA approved. First I install foam plugs followed by muffs. This procedure negates most sounds to nearly zero. This procedure did not reduce jet over flight noise. I believe sound waves created by jets enter the body differently and affect the organs and adrenal glands in a more fundamental way.

This is serious and dangerous to us humans and presumably to other earth creatures.

The Purpose of This Blog

The purpose of this blog is to discuss and share information related to the harm perpetrated by the aviation industry. Over the past two years I have discovered a relationship between the onset of high blood pressure and the substantial increase of jet over flights. Further research indicates a direct relationship between over flights and many modern epidemics.

I used to be a frequent flier as a commuter between Southern California and Southeastern Kentucky. I always appreciated the quiet upon arriving at my rural Kentucky home. That quiet has been eliminated by the aviation industry in less than two years.

I tried to obtain information about the increase in flights from the various arms of the FAA. It didn't take long to determine the governmental side of this industry would offer nothing to a concerned citizen, except institutional lying. I was told several times 'there are no flights over your area'. I contacted a member of the House of Representatives to see if his office could determine why there was such a significant increase in flights. His office was told the same lie. There are often 2000 flights per day over my home.

The studies I have found regarding this matter are tedious and laced with technical terms. My professional training and experience has helped me understand the significance of the aviation industry to our health.

One European study of 5,000 participant found an increase of blood pressure under very normal circumstances. If you are asleep at a sound level equal to a quiet conversation in a library and a jet overflight is the loudness of a baby's breath your blood pressure will increase an average of 14%. Blood pressure elevations increase as the sound levels of over flights increase.

The health issues are many and significant. For example, a recent study from Stanford University indicates a 197% increase in breast cancer for citizens under flight paths.

Other issues include air pollution and the destruction of polar ice. I will post links to these and other studies in future posts.