Listening for Quiet

On 2007-10-11 15:57:17 -0700, daffy said:

Quite a good article in the Nov/Dec AARP magazine titled "Listening
for Quiet".
It talks about a silent sanctuary in Washington's Olympic National
park. The article
concluded by someone complaining about the silence broken by a small
plane.

The article said "The small plane flying north more than doubles the
ambient sound,
and we react to the intruder as a threat, drawing in, tracking the
source, hunching for
cover until the last traces of engine noise finally die away."

The Olympic National Park covers much of northwestern Washington,
including a great deal of the coast, all of the Olympic Mountains, the
Hoh Rain Forest, and much else. It is bordered by important airports
that serve coastal towns, Indian reservations, and international
travel. There are several airports within the boundaries of the park.
There are also several military training areas in and around the park.
There is a narrow corridor between the park and Sub Base Bangor which
is one of the major routes for traffic flying Canada, the San Juan
Islands, Bremerton, Tacoma, Olympia, and Seattle.

Most aircraft avoid flying over the Olympic Mountains because it is
relatively dangerous, rugged territory prone to unpredictable weather
and icing. Because of the park's location, however, and the fact that
the park is broken into two sections, it is not always possible to fly
a route around the park. It can mean adding several hours to a flight
to go around. Not only that, but bad weather in the Strait of Juan de
Fuca, on the coast, or on Puget Sound can leave you little choice.

Pilots do try to maintain at least 2000' above wild areas as requested
by the National Park Service. However, planes taking off or landing
obviously are going to have to fly lower than 2000.' There are
additional aircraft that fly lower than 2000' for scientific and law
enforcement purposes, as well as search and rescue, fire fighting, and
surveying. Specially equipped airplanes regularly fly at low level over
the park as part of the effort to control our borders, fight smuggling,
and look for terrorist activity. Some areas completely bounded by the
park are managed lands set aside for tree farming. There are aircraft
actively involved in logging there. Boeing and some airlines have been
known to conduct training flights at low altitude over the park.

Aviation is a huge and necessary part of the activity at Olympic
National Park, perhaps more so than any other park in the nation. Many
peoples' lives and much of the health of the park itself are dependent
on it. If you want to get away from airplanes and their noise, Olympic
National Park is a poor choice.

--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor