August 30, 2005
Tuesday

As I read Doug Barry's commentary on how much he misses the drone of Ketchikan's float planes, I realized just how much the newer props on today's Cessna 185's must differ from when Doug was in town.

Today the pilots have to slap the air with those prop tips at full throttle and smack my eardrums to the point where I wonder if permanent damage is being done! I suppose it could be that the air is thinner now and aircraft props of that class have to crack the sound barrier 25 yards off the beach and parallel to my house meeting just the perfect angle of my personal pain threshold. God knows I love aircraft. My son is a pilot. But I have to question the attack angle of some of these pilots as they attempt get airborne and the sense of the owners who let them hotshot. I want these guys to keep flying and I like the planes in front of my house but hey let's get real. I've witnessed the same aircraft take off without so much air smack so I know they can fly better than that.

No one needs to be setting take off speed records in Ketchikan. Doug enjoy Sammamish, they used to complain about the mini hydroplanes there before your time and finally got them off the lake. Let's hope that doesn't happen to the float planes in Ketchikan.

Mike Moyer
E-mail: Donegal3@go.com
Ketchikan, AK - USA

Related Viewpoint:

Airplane Noise is Music to My Ears By Doug Barry - Sammamish, WA - USA

 

 

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