Jet Demonstration at the El Toro Base

* I wish to thank the supervisors who insisted on the El Toro test because the feeble demonstration did in fact illustrate that desperate people do stupid things.

Gee, who would have imagined that all the mountains, valleys and canyons surrounding the El Toro site might reverberate, amplify and extend the time of the aircraft noise.

I guess county planners didn’t see that one coming, but it’s not their fault, they had no data. There is no data because large airports aren’t built in such places and no conscientious planning authority worldwide would attempt it.

The square peg/round hole thing is why the county looks so stupid and Newport Beach’s desperation is teetering.

The score of cities and the people of South County need to unite and not become part of this grand experiment, for if they don’t they will have to live with unsafe skies overhead, pollution-packed hills and the dull roar that will echo from the mountains to the sea 24 hours of the day forever.

BILL ROLFING

Laguna Beach

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* We live in Irvine and have not heard a single plane. What is all the shouting about on the Irvine City Council?

GORDON & BETTY PATTISON

Irvine

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* The first day we moved into our home directly under the flight path of John Wayne Airport, I panicked at how loud the planes sounded to me, but within weeks I rarely heard them anymore. What caused the difference? Those first few days I was fully concentrating on the noise, waiting for each flight, and critically judging its impact. However, once I got on with my busy life I rarely heard the planes anymore.

I live closer to John Wayne than anyone will live to El Toro, and my property value has continued to increase each year. Obviously, I am not alone in my evaluation of the airplanes’ impact. Therefore, my suggestion to those in South County, which includes my son and daughter as well as good friends, was to listen for aircraft noise the first day of tests, but during the second day just forget about the planes and go about your routine.

BONNIE O’NEIL

Newport Beach

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* If El Toro were to become a 24-hour airport, a flight every three minutes, it would completely ruin the lifestyle and healthful environment of many South County people, especially the people of Laguna Woods and other runway-vulnerable neighborhoods. These people all moved to this area for peace and quiet, to raise children in a clean, safe, healthy environment.

I sympathize with Newport Beach people regarding John Wayne Airport but I’m sure a lot of people near El Toro would gladly move to Newport Beach if they could afford it--no all-night cargo flights, smaller jets, not nearly as many flights, faster-climbing takeoffs, all flights from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.--much, much better than the El Toro projection.

With all the bitterness and controversy, most people that I talk to feel Ontario International Airport could be the answer. They are ready; they want more flights.

WILLIAM A. COLLINS

Mission Viejo