From: Al DeLorey (805) 482-8094, e-mail delorey1@gte.net

Subject: Inputs for the Noise Compatibility Study for the Camarillo Airport

Attachments: Map A and B of Straight-in Approach, Diagram C of VSI over the city of Camarillo.

I believe the current Camarillo Airport Noise Abatement Procedures would work if the procedures were followed. However, these procedures are not being followed and nobody is taking responsibility for enforcing these procedures. If someone is responsible for the enforcement then please tell me who it is. "I’m Dr. Frasier Crane and I’m listening…."

I do have some questions about the Noise Abatement Procedures which are currently in effect, and I do have some suggestions of how the current procedures could be made more effective.

How does the Camarillo Airport measure how successfully the current noise abatement procedures are working? What are the qualitative and quantitative measurements used to measure if the noise problem is getting worst or better? Are there documents of the noise complaints that are reported, and what are the dispositions of those complaints? It would be helpful if the airport lent out noise measurement and laser range measurement equipment in order that the complainants may use them to document their noise complaints. It would be more effective if the complainants reported facts (noise level, altitude, airplane identification, etc) and not just opinions of an offending airplane.

Do the airport’s noise level charts really show what the noise level is going to be for the people on the ground? It is quieter for the people at the airport’s control tower than for the residences on the south side of Camarillo. In the landing pattern around the airport the airplanes fly at 800 feet. For us suffering people in Camarillo it is different. For the last 2.36 miles of the final approach for runway 26 over the city of Camarillo the aircraft fly between 447 to 465 feet Above Ground Level (AGL) with the loudest part of the airplane’s noise footprint pointed straight at the private residences. (See 3 degree Visual Slope Indicator Discussion Below and attached Map A)

Why does the Camarillo Control Tower allow Touch-and-Go’s on the week-ends when the Noise Abatement Procedure says they are "prohibited"? The Touch-and-Go’s are not a problem when they stay around the airport. They do become a noise problem when they become part of the "extended-downwind" procession of airplanes flying over the residential areas of Camarillo.

Why does the Camarillo Control Tower habitually allow VFR straight-in approaches to runway 26 when it is "prohibited" in the Noise Abatement Procedures? The "Straight-in-approach" pilots many times force the "good-guy" pilots to extend their down-wind leg which then puts them over the city when they complete their base leg.

Why do the airplanes sometimes go out of their way to fly over the residential areas of the city? On the map the straight in approach to runway 26 is actually over farm fields. Airplanes on their extended down-wind-leg could complete their base-leg without flying over the south side of the city. It looks like they overshoot the base-leg turn onto final approach for some unknown reason. (See attached Map A)

What are the restrictions on the type of airplanes flying in and out of the airport? I do enjoy seeing the Super Connie’s, B25’s, B17’s and other aircraft like them flying around. I do have complaints about an 18 passenger business jet flying in fast, low and noisy at 10:45 P.M. two nights in a row last month. One of the business jets at the airport is a Gulfstream III. It is a 38,000 lb. (empty)/69,700 lb. (max T/O), 77 ft. wing span, 576 mph, 4100 NM range (you can almost fly back and forth across America without stopping). The Gulfstream requires about 3000 feet of runway and it is fast. This means it has to come in fast and low to make sure it gets as much runway as possible. The business jets could minimize their noise problem if they flew to the south of the residential homes and flew over the farm fields. The turbofans noise level foot print is highest in the front of the airplane. By flying to the south of the residential area the highest noise level would be pointed away from the homes. The business jet would actually have the benefit of gaining an extra 300 feet of ground clearance (209 feet AGL plus the 92 foot water tank in the residential section of town) when they bypass the residential section of town.

Are you sending mixed signals to pilots by having a Visual-Slope-Indicator at the airport? The Camarillo Airport Noise Abatement Procedures states for airplanes to:

"Remain as high as practical over noise sensitive residential areas during approaches and departures." However, you then advise them to use the Visual-Slope-Indicator (VSI) which then has them flying lower than 460 feet Above-Ground-Level (AGL) over the residential part of the city.

Many pilots are using the Visual-Slope-Indicator (VSI) to determine if they are flying high enough over the city of Camarillo for noise abatement. The VSI is located near the east end of the runway and has a 3 degree angle slope indicator. If the pilots use the VSI correctly the airplanes will fly over the land surface at 447 ft. at Hughes Road, 460 ft. at Barcelona Street, and 465 ft. at the foot of the Camarillo water tower. I have personally observed these to be typical (AGL) altitudes for airplanes flying over these area. It is common for an aircraft to fly below 400 feet AGL. I suspect this happens for the following two reasons. Firstly, there is a distance band above and below the VSI’s three degree center where the pilot could be 40 feet below the 3 degree slope and still have an indication (a white and red light) of being on the glide slope. And secondly, the pilot will over shoot to a lower altitude since he is already heading in the down direction when he is going below the glide slope. At this point he could easily be below 400 feet AGL.

The airplane clearances over physical structures on the ground are even closer than the AGL altitudes because there is a 90 foot tall water tower and there are 60 foot tall trees along the VSI Straight-in approach over the residential section of the city. This puts airplanes to within 300 feet of structures over the city. There is a safety issue of flying close to building structures when flying over the city. Flying over the farm land to the south of the city would give the pilot a safe place to land if there were engine failure and an extra 209 feet AGL clearance because the farm land is lower than the residential part of the city. It appears to me it makes sense to fly south of the city over farm land for Straight-in approaches for safety and noise reasons. (See attached Map A and Visual-Slope-Indicator diagram)

Sincerely Yours,

Al DeLorey