In article ,
Garry O wrote:
Canadian International Air Show :-)
http://www.cias.org/
One of things that injects hundreds of thousands of dollars (probably
millions) into the local economy every year.
You seem to be knowledgable about the technical aspects, but I don't
think the quantity of money involved is very significant. How many
people come to Toronto just for this airshow, and not the CNE per se?
Surely far fewer than for many other events like Caribana and the Gay
Pride celebrations. And hundreds of thousands of dollars isn't all that
much these days, y'know. It costs on the order of half a million to
buy a very ordinary small old house on a tiny lot in downtown Toronto.
Even a downtown condo costs about that much. In an economy of more than
2 million people in Toronto and about 8-10 million in the GTA, even a
few million dollars isn't very much.
I live several miles north of the site, and I've put up with the noise
for decades. When the planes turn around between stunts, they do so
over my house and a lot of other densely populated terrain in downtown
Toronto -- probably some of the most densely populated terrain in Canada.
This year the noise was substantially worse than it's ever been. I could
feel the porch floorboards vibrating under my feet on some passes,
as well as a sort of vibration in my bones and chest. The noise level
was often painful, and it kept setting off car alarms. This is really
unacceptable, even if it's "only" six days.
We took some photos of the planes causing the most problems as they flew
overhead, and they had US NAVY painted on the undersides. Perhaps this
troupe flew much lower than usual.
I'd like to know if any effort is made to minimize noise by, for example,
doing as much of the turning as possible over the lake, or at higher
altitudes. I think there should be limits set on the intensity of noise
at ground level away from the site of the actual show -- these fliers
should be able to modify their performances to meet rules that make
them less of a problem for the hundreds of thousands of people under
their flight paths who are not interested in the airshow. It's not
like it's taking place in a rural area where the spectators outnumber
the uninvolved.
I suspect that if some significant effort at noise abatement isn't made,
the airshow may indeed be banned. If the CIAS isn't willing to do so,
they may have to find another venue for the show.