Pilots Get OK From Torrance to Keep Evening Training Runs

Pilots and homeowners came to Torrance City Hall on Tuesday armed with arguments that had all been heard before. The homeowners requested relief from the repeated whir of plane engines above their homes. The pilots countered with concerns that their freedom to take off and land at Torrance Municipal Airport was about to be further curtailed.

But although some pilots had predicted the City Council would side with homeowners, the point-counterpoint ended somewhat differently. To the pilots’ surprise, council members responded to their pleas by easing proposed restrictions on a type of training technique called full stop-taxi backs. The proposal would have banned that technique on evenings, Sundays and holidays.

Pilots vehemently protested the evening ban, arguing it would hamper pilot training. The council voted 7 to 0 to limit the ban to Sundays and holidays--allowing the maneuver on weekday evenings before 10.

Beaming pilots, gathered outside council chambers after the vote, said they had not expected the city to bend.

“That was a good trade. We got a little bit and they got a little bit,” said William Gunnell of Torrance, a flight instructor with the South Bay Flying Club who had urged council members not to restrict evening flying.

Gunnell said he conducts his lessons on evenings and weekends. If the original proposal had passed, he said, “It could have put me out of flight instructing.”

The debate involves full stop-taxi back maneuvers--in which an airplane lands, taxis off the runway, then returns to the runway’s other end to take off again.

Responding to neighborhood complaints, the city in 1985 tightened restrictions on several other techniques, including “touch-and-go” operations, in which an airplane lands and takes off without stopping or leaving the runway.

Despite those restrictions, some neighbors were still concerned about planes repeatedly passing over their homes.

“Sometimes it feels like you live in a war zone,” Boris Fritz, president of the Palo del Amo Homeowners’ Assn., told council members Tuesday night.

“(It) feels like having gas-powered lawn mowers flying over your house.”

Pilots attending the meeting focused their criticism on the proposed evening curbs on full stop-taxi backs. Pilots need to be able to practice taking off and landing during the evening so that they can remain current and meet federal requirements, they said.

In order to transport passengers at night, pilots must log three takeoffs and landings to a complete stop at night every 90 days, according to a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

Barry Jay, a pilot and president of the Torrance Airport Boosters Assn., asked that the council allow full stop-taxi backs in the evening but prohibit them on Sundays.

“The homeowners get their peaceful Sunday barbecues, and the pilots get to remain current,” Jay told council members.

After extensive public comment and council discussion, Councilman Bill Applegate suggested removing the proposed weekday evening restriction, and Councilman George Nakano amended his motion to reflect the pilots’ concerns.

The altered ordinance will allow full stop-taxi backs until 10 p.m. on weeknights and until 5 p.m. on Saturdays, said David C. Roelen, city environmental quality officer. They will not be allowed on Sundays and holidays.

Homeowners had mixed reactions to the compromise.

“I feel it’s better something than nothing,” said Joseph Arciuch, a board member of the Southwood Riviera Homeowners’ Assn. But he said the maneuver should be regulated as strictly as touch-and-gos, which are only allowed between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays.

“We got something we didn’t have before,” said Fritz of the Palo del Amo group. Now, Fritz said, he will be more likely to invite guests to his home on Sundays. “At least, I’ll know we won’t be inundated with airplanes.”