The General Aviation Awareness Council
Why General Aviation?
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So General Aviation makes a noise.
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So it creates exhaust emissions.
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So it can disturb the peace with repetitive flying training circuits and aerobatics.
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So people fly General Aviation aeroplanes just for their own pleasure.
TRUE OR FALSE?
Yes, these claims have an element of truth, but every coin has
two sides.
So to place that truth in proper perspective, read on...
What is it?
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) defines general aviation as: ‘An aircraft operation other than a commercial air transport operation or an aerial work operation.’
Aerial work is defined as specialised commercial aviation operations… performed by aircraft, e.g. flying training, agriculture, construction, photography and surveying, etc.
Generally, though, GA is considered as all civil aviation other than that carried out by the commercial airline industry.
General Aviation: The Other Side
Noise
Does general aviation really create that much noise? Are we not all equally guilty of creating noise with our cars (and their alarms) or motor bikes and possibly our lawn mowers, strimmers, barking dogs, and radios.
What about the noise from football matches and other leisure activities, and in most cases aren’t these purely for our pleasure? Or, in quiet rural areas, combine harvesters and grain dryers?
Air Pollution
The extent of air pollution created in the atmosphere must relate largely to the use of fossil energies. According to European calculations, general aviation consumes 0.03% of all oil products used in today’s society. In 1999 in the UK, only 44,000 tonnes of aviation gasoline (the fuel used by the majority of GA aircraft) were used, compared with more than 21 million tonnes of motor gasoline used in the same period.
Repetitive Circuits
Yes, aircraft do fly around the aerodrome circuit repetitively and often they fly over and turn around the same spots. All this forms an essential part in the training of pilots and the more times they do this the better and safer pilots they become. Turning repeatedly over the same point indicates a good level of accuracy, which is a major contributor to a person’s flying competence. So it is quite wrong to say – or even think – that a pilot flies round and round that same spot to annoy people beneath.
However, many training organisations can arrange to vary circuits from time to time. Remember: a well-trained pilot is a safe pilot.
Aerobatics
Training in aerobatics – the technical word for aerial acrobatics – increases a pilot’s competence and confidence. Pilots do this to improve their flying skills and, to check the accuracy of their
manoeuvres, they need line features such as straight railways or roads, which restricts the choice of places over which they can practise. Also, much of the airspace is reserved for the use of
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