![\"goldcanyon4\"](\"http:\/\/www.efferential.com\/quiet_skies_over_gold_canyon\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/GoldCanyon4.jpg\")
<\/p>\nOn any given day, a variety of planes fly over Gold Canyon. This is despite the fact that we’re\u00a0not near any airports or under any commercial flight paths. If the skies can be likened to a system of roads, then I would say that the airspace over Gold Canyon is mostly a cul-de-sac;\u00a0the 5000+ ft. Superstition Mountains place certain absolute limits on what sort of flying can take place in the area. Nonetheless, various planes do criss-cross our skies. On most days, ten minutes will not elapse before the sound of another airplane is heard. And this brings me to something they all have in common: they all make noise. This is how people on the ground distinguish airplanes in the sky\u2014from the noise they make. Doubtless if airplanes made no noise, most of us wouldn\u2019t even know they were there. The sounds we hear tend to graduate into two categories: loud enough to make us conscious of them, and loud enough to make us stop what we\u2019re doing and look up.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, looking up is not likely to result in much more than what is already known: that somewhere up there is a noisy plane. The sound alone is likely to tell us more about the aircraft than anything else. For example, most of us can distinguish the sound of a jet from that of a propeller-driven aircraft. But distinguishing one tiny grayish fuselage from another at 4000+ feet? I would say that takes some skill. This brings me to another significant characteristic that most planes have in common: their anonymity. Despite the fact that all planes have a tail number\u2014a sort of license plate for aircraft\u2014most of us would be hard-pressed to read that number from thousands of feet below.<\/p>\n
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So when a particularly noisy plane goes by, most of us feel utterly helpless to do anything about it. We can describe the noise. We can record the time, the date, and possibly what direction the plane is flying in. But we can\u2019t positively identify the plane. Imagine calling some municipal authority and complaining that a noisy plane flew by. Imagine the type of response you\u2019re likely to receive. Doubtless it would be similar to the type of response you would get if you call the police and complain about a noisy automobile. Naturally, the first thing they\u2019ll want is for you to identify it. Did you get the make, the model, the license plate? Do you at least know what color it is? No? What, the police may ask, do you expect us to do?<\/p>\n
Most of us are conditioned to accept that noisy planes are just one of those things we have no control over, like death or taxes or the weather. We condition ourselves to accept the noise because, after all, we all benefit from airplanes. We benefit when we\u2019re flying in them, when they\u2019re taking us from where we are to where we want to be, when they\u2019re bringing us packages that we order online, or when they\u2019re simply keeping us safe. So the barriers that exist to our filing some sort of official complaint are considerable, and the greatest barrier of all is psychological.<\/p>\n
Filing a complaint is serious business. It is not an anonymous act. It invariably puts you in opposition to someone or some entity with much greater wealth\u2014wealthy enough to own and operate an airplane (99% of us, incidentally, do not). We also factor in the likelihood that our complaint will result in real and substantive change. Is it worth our time to complain about the noise? Will it make a difference? Most of us weigh the pros and cons and come to the same conclusion: it\u2019s a hopeless waste of time.<\/p>\n
So what, if anything, would allow someone to overcome such barriers? Well, what if the overwhelming majority of noise came from specific planes that fly the same routes everyday? Even better, what if you could identify the planes? What if you had an answer for every detailed question that was asked of you?\u2014questions designed to make you doubt yourself and your own experiences and observations, designed ultimately to make you go away and accept your status as a victim of those with the means to fly over you at will.<\/p>\n
According to Wikipedia, CAE is \u201cthe largest flight school in the world\u201d and instructs student pilots from \u201cBelgium, The Netherlands, the UK, Italy, Turkey and Vietnam\u201d.\u00a0All day every day, CAE creates noise and pollution in Gold Canyon. How loud is the noise from a Piper PA-28? Loud enough that the pilots themselves must wear hearing protection, as cabin noise can exceed 100 dBA. Loud enough that you can hear a Piper inside a stucco wood frame home from over two miles away. For CAE, noise is an unfortunate by-product of their business. They cast it off into the environment and never look back. But noise is ultimately like any other form of pollution. Indeed, that\u2019s why we have the term \u201cnoise pollution\u201d. And what do we do with companies who knowingly pollute the environment? We hold them accountable. We make them deal with their industrial waste in a responsible manner. In this case, CAE does not bear any costs for the waste they create, and it\u2019s the residents of Gold Canyon who suffer as a result.<\/p>\n Moreover, the industrial waste that is being dumped on Gold Canyon is not merely excessive noise, but toxic lead. The fuel CAE’s planes use\u2014known as avgas<\/em> in the aviation industry\u2014decomposes after combustion into microscopic lead particles that\u00a0rain down upon\u00a0our community. The lead\u00a0is aerosolized so that it spreads out as it precipitates, meaning the planes do not have to be flying directly over you for the lead to reach you. There are no safe levels of lead; any amount is toxic\u2014particularly to children.\u00a0Commercial jet airliners, incidentally, do not use leaded fuel. But small noisy planes like these do, and they’re the largest source of lead emissions in the United States.<\/a><\/p>\n Falcon Field,<\/a> the airport where CAE\u2019s planes\u00a0are based, is about four miles from millions of acres of the Tonto National Forest.<\/a> One would imagine that enormous swathes of unpopulated areas would be an ideal location to fly noisy toxic-lead-spewing planes. Better for the pilots, too, as it\u2019s a lot more scenic. But there\u2019s a reason why CAE has chosen a corridor that routinely takes their noisy planes over Gold Canyon instead. These are student<\/i> pilots, which is to say inexperienced,<\/em> and CAE wants a nice simple route with no consequences. The pilots fly over a highway\u2014S60\u2014heading out, and parallel the same highway coming back. S60 is a large straight visual landmark easily seen from the altitude these planes fly at. The route ensures that these pilots won\u2019t become disoriented and lost. It also ensures that if there are mechanical issues, these pilots have plenty of options. They can land on the desert near the road. Heck they can land right on the highway if they have to. You see it\u2019s all about pilot safety; all other considerations are secondary. If disturbing 10,000 residents all day, every day, makes the pilots even 0.01% safer then so be it.<\/p>\n![\"piperpa-28-236dakotac-ggfsphoto4\"](\"http:\/\/www.efferential.com\/quiet_skies_over_gold_canyon\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/PiperPA-28-236DakotaC-GGFSPhoto4.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nMeet the type of plane<\/a> that is responsible for the overwhelming majority of aircraft noise in Apache Junction and Gold Canyon.<\/em><\/div>\n<\/a><\/p>\nMeet the airport<\/a> the planes are based in.<\/em><\/div>\n<\/a><\/p>\nMeet the corporation<\/a> that owns and operates these planes.<\/em><\/div>\n<\/a><\/p>\nAnd meet its parent corporation.<\/a><\/em><\/div>\n<\/p>\nMeet the poison<\/strong><\/a> CAE’s planes are spewing over Gold Canyon.<\/em><\/div>\n<\/a><\/p>\none noisy toxic-lead-spewing plane<\/em><\/div>\n<\/a><\/p>\nafter another<\/em><\/div>\n