"just an average Farlang..." wrote in
message
news:bm9yaWtv.9cc04ee02a8bf61515c8a3baf728e8b9@107 6513463.nulluser.com...
I wouldn't say that. In fact the collective IQ of the message thread
increased exponentially after the first two posts.

You jumped to your conclusion about this newsgroup after two posts, one of
which wasn't even offensive (Don's)? You can't really expect this newsgroup
(which is for pilots, people probably more like your neighbor than like you)
to be 100% sympathetic to a person who is apparently looking to raise a
ruckus over an activity we all enjoy. Frankly, if you're handling the
neighbor situation the same way you're dealing with us, I think you're going
to find that this sort of knee-jerk, quick-to-judge attitude won't serve you
well.

Let's see if you can get all the way through this post without accusing me
of being a redneck too...

Maybe some are blind-sided by their interests... let me use a couple
exmamples:

"Blind-sided" isn't the phrase you want to use there.

As for your examples...

I previously lived on 5 acres and the police department told me I
could legally target shoot on my property with a gun but does that
mean it is ok?

Define "ok". Absent any other restrictions (property covenants and
restrictions found on the deed, for example), since it's not against the
law, you had every right to use a firearm on your property.

[...] Really, using common sense and good
judgement I concluded it is not appropriate to do this.

It probably wasn't, from a safety standpoint, unless you improved your
property to create an area where you could safely fire a weapon and be
assured the ammunition would remain on your property. Five acres doesn't
give a bullet very much room. But then, a bullet is deadly, and isn't the
same kind of thing as an airplane.

Yet, this really isn't relevant to the question you asked.

I have a racing motorcycle, just because it will go 165 miles per hour
does that mean I am allowed to do it?

Sure, on your own property or other private property. You could even drive
it at 165 miles per hour on public property where such things are allowed.
But there aren't any public roads in the US where you are permitted to drive
that fast.

Yet again, this really isn't relevant to the question you asked.

I got a dirt bike, does that mean I can go ride it anywhere I please
on private, public or forest land?

Again, the various lands you might operate your dirt bike on will have their
own use restrictions. Where dirt bikes are allowed, you may ride the dirt
bike. Where they aren't, you may not. Simple, no?

Yet again, this really isn't relevant to the question you asked.

If you're going to raise a fuss over your neighbor's "airport" (which
appears to not even be a sure thing at this point), you need to learn enough
about the legalities and issues to come up with valid comparisons. None of
the other examples you've given have any relevance at all, except VERY
vaguely from a "being neighborly" point of view. Frankly, you're not being
any more neighborly than the neighbor you're describing, and possibly less
so (hard to say, since all we know about his actions, we learn from you).

The theme of my message thread I believe is about acting responsible.

If you say so.

Just as a pilot and landowner should have the right to fly his
airplane shouldn't I have the right to sleep late on a hot summer day
with my bedroom window open without being woke up by some airplane
buzzing over my property and house?

You may or may not have that right. But you probably don't. I know I don't
in my house.

I paid for my land! I am entitled to the use of the land I paid for.

Unless the aircraft is taxiing on the ground, on your property, then the
operation of aircraft in the vicinity of your property has nothing to do
with the land you paid for. You bought the land, not exclusive rights to
the airspace over it.

I live in a residential neighborhood, near a medium-sized city. At various
times of the day, including late at night and in the wee hours of the
morning, there are the occasional aircraft that fly overhead. Usually it's
jets flying into the nearby (15 miles away or so) commercial airport. Other
times, it's a low-flying helicopter (as if there are any other kind ) or
less frequently a small plane (they are more often found during normal
daytime hours).

All of those aircraft have the legal right to overfly my house, and if that
disturbs my sleep or other activity (as it sometimes does), I have no legal
recourse.

How about if I were your nextdoor neighbor... Is it appropriate for me to
park
my truck in front of your house?

Are you parking your truck on my property? You don't have that right. Are
you parking your truck on public property, or on your own property adjacent
to mine? Then you do have that right, though local laws may restrict how
long you can leave your truck on public property, how it should be parked,
that sort of thing.

And yet again, that example has nothing to do with your original question.

How about if I owned 5 cars and had them parked all up and down
the street in front of your house?

How about it? If the street is public property, and you have not abandoned
them (by whatever legal definition exists in your neighborhood...it varies
from neighborhood to neighborhood, and in my neighborhood a vehicle needs to
be moved daily to avoid it being legally abandonded), you have every right
to park your five cars on the street in front of my house.

Oops...but yet again, this has nothing to do with the original question.

Speaking of which, I might as well use this post to comment on your original
post, rather than making a separate reply...

First of all, how did you come to the conclusion that "the prevailing winds
position the optimal take-off direction to be directly over" your house?
Runways do NOT need to be aligned directly into the prevailing winds, nor do
I believe that you have done a serious survey of the prevailing winds well
enough to determine what the optimal direction for a runway would be.
Finally, the direction the runway is pointed is only half the equation; you
also need to know *where* the runway is located. Offset the runway by fifty
feet or so in one direction or the other, and the departure path no longer
winds up over your house (assuming it was over your house in the first
place).

Secondly, how is that you have 500 acres, and yet your house is only 1500'
from the supposed runway? For someone who wanted peace and quiet, you sure
built your house pretty close to the property line. Not that this really
matters...the choice of where to build your house was yours, not your
neighbors. You can only ensure "peace and quiet" in as much as you obtain
enough land to buffer yourself from potential disruptions.

For what it's worth, 1500' from the property line is too close to ensure
peace and quiet insulated from any number of disruptive activities, any of
which are likely legal on your neighbor's property. Most of the examples
one might think of are noise-related (firearms, dirt bikes, go-karts, loud
automobile engines, etc.) but others might involve things like smoke or
other vapors drifting over from the property.

As far as what kind of airplanes your neighbor might operate, if he's only
got 2600' across his property to work with, there's no way he's going to
have any large airplane there. Probably bigger than an ultralight, since
you hardly need a runway for those. But he's not going to be able to make
full use of the 2600'...probably closer to 2000', and assuming he doesn't
pave it, that restricts the size of the aircraft even more. Especially
given the altitude of 3000' (the maximum temperature is less of an
indicator, since he might just not fly on those hot days).

As far as the "socialite parties" go, sure, he might have a few friends
over. I'd be surprised if more than a handful of airplanes show up at one
time though. But even if they did, that's just how it goes. Our house is
less than 50' from our neighbor's pool, where they have parties in the
summer all the time. Lots of loud goings-on. But since the parties occur
during the daytime, they're not in violation of any noise ordinances, nor do
I have any basis for complaint.

With respect to your question of whether your neighbor is "helping himself
to a sort of easement", rest assured he is not. You have no legal right to
restrict the use of the airspace above your property -- it's not yours -- so
he's not helping himself to anything.

As far as farm animals go (which you don't even have yet), there may be some
period of adjustment, but they will quickly learn that the aircraft is not a
threat, and the noise won't bother them at all. They don't have the human
capacity for hate or empathy, so they won't be sitting on the ground fuming
about how their neighbor is ruining their lives.

Bottom line: it is likely that your pilot is well within his legal rights
with respect to his planned airport. You can either be the ugly neighbor,
raise a big stink about it, make a bunch of lawyers rich fighting over
something in court when you'll likely lose anyway (unless you can outspend
the other guy), and so forth. Or, you can have a NICE conversation with
your neighbor, recognize that he's within his legal rights and work with him
to try to ensure that you both come out with a solution you're each happy
with.

Your choice.

Pete