Sound and Some Fury

It’s unlikely that many minds were changed by Friday and Saturday’s test flights in and out of El Toro. But when the pro-airport chairman of the Board of Supervisors declared that soundproofing would be needed for homes after all, there was no doubt that residents really could hear these planes.

The noise of a round-the-clock commercial airport in the heart of Orange County will be different from the periodic and occasionally loud Marine operations at El Toro. The continuous noise from the international airport being planned is certain to become part of the permanent soundtrack of life in south and central areas.

This is an outdoor culture, and nobody coming away from hearing and seeing the tests could deny that an airport is going to make things different. For some people, it won’t be an inconvenience--and wasn’t over the weekend; for others it was and will be a problem. It is precisely this kind of contribution to public understanding that the tests made possible.

Friday got off to a slow start, and on both days the tests fell short of replicating the repetitive sounds of an operational facility. Saturday’s tests spared residents any early wake-up rumblings.

But for those paying attention, or monitoring decibel readings, the experience gave an indication of things to come. At Laguna Woods, Aliso Viejo and Laguna Niguel, the early readings from various sources were significant. By Monday, some strong reaction was coming in from South County.

Previously, county officials said they expected noise to fall below state limits that call for sound insulation. After standing on a deck in Aliso Viejo, Supervisor Charles V. Smith endorsed the idea of insulation for homes near the flight path. That kind of reality check about where the county is headed was worthwhile.