Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Gillespie Field pilots prompted to become “good neighbors”

Fletcher Hills residents seek dialogue

Gillespie Field
Gillespie Field

Some Fletcher Hills residents want Gillespie Field airport to consider adopting the Scottsdale Airport pilots’ "Good Neighbor" pledge, a statement that pilots voluntarily sign to declare they are "sensitive" to community concerns such as noise.

Sue Strom, a member of Fletcher Hills residents’ group Advocates for Safe Airport Practices, distributed copies of the Scottsdale pledge at the July 16 Gillespie Development Council meeting. The council represents a joint agreement between the County of San Diego and the City of El Cajon and makes recommendations about the county-owned airport.

At the meeting, airport manager Marc Baskel reported that there were 17,474 operations (landings and take-offs) in May and 14,964 operations during June.

Sponsored
Sponsored

During May and June, there were 23 noise complaints. Baskel said Gillespie's voluntary noise-abatement program was established many years ago and includes pilot education and raising the awareness of residents.

"The [Gillespie Field] good-neighbor program is part of that," Baskel said. According to the Gillespie Field website, the noise-abatement program is coordinated with the FAA. However, the program is "not formally recognized or accepted by the FAA as official air traffic control procedures."

County recommendations include discouraging jet operations and “touch-and-go operations” (when a plane lands and keeps operating before it takes off again) between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.  Furthermore, the program encourages training operations at other airports.

Gillespie Development Council representative Barry Bardack and Strom elaborated on issues discussed at the meeting during separate interviews this week.

Bardack, whose aviation experience includes work as a chief flight instructor and aerospace engineer, has served on the council for six years. As part of the good-neighbor program he helped institute, he said that when pilots reach “pattern altitude” of 1200 feet mean sea level, they reduce power to 2300 RPM to lessen noise.

At the meeting, Fletcher Hills resident David Brittain gave the council a scroll detailing incidents he charted when pilots took off within 22 seconds of each other.

"That's normal," said Bardack. "That's plenty of distance." Bardack noted that Fletcher Hills homeowners sign an agreement acknowledging that they live near an airport.

Strom has lived in Fletcher Hills since 1977 and said the airport has changed since then.

"It was a general aviation mom-and-pop operation, not an aviation center with international flight schools," she said. Strom called the county good-neighbor program "unneighborly" and maintained there is no noise abatement. She said residents' concerns included a fear that development will bring more flight schools.

"We're striving to have a two-way dialogue," Strom said. "Let's start with the [Scottsdale] pledge.” She added that Gillespie Field airport manager Baskel created it when he worked at the Scottsdale airport.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Melissa Etheridge, The Imaginary Amazon

Events April 1-April 3, 2024
Gillespie Field
Gillespie Field

Some Fletcher Hills residents want Gillespie Field airport to consider adopting the Scottsdale Airport pilots’ "Good Neighbor" pledge, a statement that pilots voluntarily sign to declare they are "sensitive" to community concerns such as noise.

Sue Strom, a member of Fletcher Hills residents’ group Advocates for Safe Airport Practices, distributed copies of the Scottsdale pledge at the July 16 Gillespie Development Council meeting. The council represents a joint agreement between the County of San Diego and the City of El Cajon and makes recommendations about the county-owned airport.

At the meeting, airport manager Marc Baskel reported that there were 17,474 operations (landings and take-offs) in May and 14,964 operations during June.

Sponsored
Sponsored

During May and June, there were 23 noise complaints. Baskel said Gillespie's voluntary noise-abatement program was established many years ago and includes pilot education and raising the awareness of residents.

"The [Gillespie Field] good-neighbor program is part of that," Baskel said. According to the Gillespie Field website, the noise-abatement program is coordinated with the FAA. However, the program is "not formally recognized or accepted by the FAA as official air traffic control procedures."

County recommendations include discouraging jet operations and “touch-and-go operations” (when a plane lands and keeps operating before it takes off again) between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.  Furthermore, the program encourages training operations at other airports.

Gillespie Development Council representative Barry Bardack and Strom elaborated on issues discussed at the meeting during separate interviews this week.

Bardack, whose aviation experience includes work as a chief flight instructor and aerospace engineer, has served on the council for six years. As part of the good-neighbor program he helped institute, he said that when pilots reach “pattern altitude” of 1200 feet mean sea level, they reduce power to 2300 RPM to lessen noise.

At the meeting, Fletcher Hills resident David Brittain gave the council a scroll detailing incidents he charted when pilots took off within 22 seconds of each other.

"That's normal," said Bardack. "That's plenty of distance." Bardack noted that Fletcher Hills homeowners sign an agreement acknowledging that they live near an airport.

Strom has lived in Fletcher Hills since 1977 and said the airport has changed since then.

"It was a general aviation mom-and-pop operation, not an aviation center with international flight schools," she said. Strom called the county good-neighbor program "unneighborly" and maintained there is no noise abatement. She said residents' concerns included a fear that development will bring more flight schools.

"We're striving to have a two-way dialogue," Strom said. "Let's start with the [Scottsdale] pledge.” She added that Gillespie Field airport manager Baskel created it when he worked at the Scottsdale airport.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Melissa Etheridge, The Imaginary Amazon

Events April 1-April 3, 2024
Next Article

Centennial Salute to San Diego’s Military, East Village Block Party, Birding Basics Class

Events March 29-March 30, 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.