The Debate Over Test Flights at El Toro

* Being Lake Forest residents for 18 years, we are naturally concerned about an El Toro airport and the noise.

Now that the county is spending $1.3 million to give us a “sample” of airport noise, if we then let them know it is excessive or we don’t like it, will they then scrap their plans for the airport?

Otherwise, what is this sample flying for?

If the powers at the county will take a poll and then listen to the wishes of all South County residents after the sample, I would agree to the expenditure.

JOSEPH PACKI

Lake Forest

* South County anti-airport activists have been crying about the potential noise problems associated with a commercial airport at El Toro even though experts hired by the county have claimed it will not be a major problem.

So wouldn’t you think activists in South County would be eager to have a two-day demonstration with at least 27 flights to prove their claims?

Not according to the May 19 article, “Now Hear This: El Toro Jet Tests OKd,” which stated south Orange County residents pleaded with county supervisors for a halt to the scheduled jet noise test.

Could it be they know they have been exaggerating the noise problem, and don’t want the majority of South County residents to discover the truth?

K. KRAUSE

Huntington Beach

* We recently returned from London, where we stayed 10 miles from the end of the runway at Heathrow Airport. This is exactly where we are located in Dana Point in relation to the proposed airport at El Toro.

The recent article concerning a test June 4 and 5 to show us how it might be at El Toro if it should become an international airport was most interesting.

The county plans so few landings and takeoffs it is completely unrealistic. In London one day we stayed “home” to rest and relax. What a shock.

Planes begin landing at 5 a.m. The noise level was loud and inescapable. The planes continued landing throughout the day, but the traffic really increased about 4 p.m. From then until 7 p.m. a jet landed every 70 to 80 seconds.

We were stunned to think this is what we and all those of us under the flight pattern or even near it will be subjected to should an international airport be allowed at El Toro.

ETTA O’CONNELL

Dana Point

* I don’t want to hear a single South County resident complain about the cost of having a flight demonstration, high salaries of airport planners or public relations projects.

None of these expenses would need to be incurred if anti-airport activists were not doing everything possible to fight El Toro.

They are the reason for all of the extra costs and then they have the audacity to complain about them.

K.P. MOVER

Costa Mesa

* The proposed demonstration flights from El Toro will not give residents of south Orange County a true representation of the noise an international passenger and cargo airport will inflict upon them.

The vast majority of the test flights will not take off on the main flight path of the proposed commercial airport.

Of the 27 scheduled test flights, only 10 will take off to the east, over Foothill Ranch and Rancho Santa Margarita. Of these, only one will be at night, 10:30 p.m.

This is in contrast to the proposed flight plan, in which 80% of the flights will take off to the east, with the majority of the cargo flights occurring at night.

In addition, none of the flights taking off to the east will be flown by Boeing 747s, Airbus 320s or Airbus 300s. These planes surely would be flown if the airport is approved, yet we will not have an opportunity to gauge their noise.

Finally, none of the planes will be fully loaded, to show what the increased thrust needed to propel a fully loaded and fueled plane will sound like.

Overall, this demonstration plan is flawed and appears designed to minimize the noise heard by the residents of the proposed easterly takeoff path.

These flights will cost the county over $1 million, yet we are unlikely to derive any useful information from the demonstration.

Supervisor Charles V. Smith asks why we are against the demonstration flights and “what we are afraid of.” The answer is we are afraid that this poorly designed test will not adequately represent the type and amount of noise that an international airport, with flights taking off and landing every one or two minutes, 24 hours a day, will generate.

KAREN M. KEDZIE

Foothill Ranch

* Once again it appears our selfish neighbors to the south are attempting another action to try to stop progress that is for the good of the entire county.

I refer to the ludicrous call for a boycott of Southwest Airlines by Laguna Hills Mayor Cynthia Greengold and Councilman L. Allan Songstad Jr. (May 11).

Southwest Airlines has taken the entirely understandable position of supporting an airport at El Toro. What airline wouldn’t be in favor of increased business?

The laughable lack of logic being displayed by these community leaders borders on the incredible. Have Greengold and Songstad thought carefully about the number of jobs this proposed airport would generate and the amount of tax revenue their city potentially stands to gain as a result of the business it is likely to foster?

Think of what could be done for the schools in Laguna Hills and the rest of the county’s cities.

I am tired of hearing people in South County complain about this much-needed airport. Yes, with prosperity comes the pain of growth. That’s life. Newport Beach has felt it ever since John Wayne Airport was built. Now it is time for the most rapidly growing part of the county to share that pain.

It is entirely unreasonable that South County wants the benefits of prosperity without the responsibility.

Every airline flying out of John Wayne should stand up and be counted with Southwest in support of the El Toro airport. What are Greengold and Songstad going to do then, call for a boycott of every airline flying out of Orange County in an attempt to bring business to a screeching halt?

MICHAEL NILSSON

Newport Beach