Thank you for the compliment. I love my (LAS) lesbian assault vehicle. I have to get to work. I’ll try to keep work noise below 26db. RB

I still want to know the lat and long for that sacred square inch of earth. There are couple of square inches of quiet at the north pole. Well it was that way in 1969 anyway.

Tim

I'm kinda remembering a recent article in my local newsaper that also mentioned the same sort of "one square inch of quiet" monument, bio-site (or whatever they called it) in Olympic National Park. Musta been the same bunch.
I think Tim's right, we need to collate a database of the lat/long of all these sacred sites & waypoint them into our GPS's as Buzz-1, Buzz-2, etc.
Seriously though... logistically speaking, just about every one of the quiet freaks has to drive right by my house (adjacent to Hwy 101- Olympic Loop Highway) in order to get out to where that quiet square inch is located. What about MY peace and quiet that they've disturbed going to seek out theirs? Same deal as the people who gripe about airplane noise when I fly over "their" wilderness? They've ruined the visual wilderness experience I was seeking, just by being visible down there.

Eric

RobBurson wrote:Ok Eric, you obviously have not learned the PC lesson of the day yet. What's this? "no fat chicks allowed" I'll have you know I'm a fat lesbian trapped in a male body. LOL sorry SORRY!! I'll take this off later today. You guys rock.

OK, edited for political correctness. More better now?

Hello Eric: Don’t you feel better now. For our next lesson we will get counseling to help us not drag our wives around the cave by the hair.

A slight tug on the hair is not that bad.

Tim

There is a very good reason for dragging by the hair, rather than the ankles....but this is not the right forum for that discussion.

Isn't that the whole point for the long hair? That's something the (male) hippies never caught on to...
Don, instead of counselling I seem to respond better to negative reinforcement applied via rolling pin... or so I'm told.

Eric

Whooo Weeeee. Testy, testy.
For years I've been thinking how AOPA says that there's a couple of airports closing every week, all around the country. This's *not* 'cause of some imaginary "whackos" you're talking about. This's because of airport land development pressures, and then fueled by just everyday folks who *don't* like to hear all the racket that our birds spew below. It seems that if we could figure out a way to improve the mufflers on our engines, that there'd be a whole lot more folks who'd be kindlier disposed to be on our side, when these issues come up. And, hey, if you haven't noticed, they're not going away anytime soon, no matter how much bravado, or how many inane comments or opinions are bandied about saying that noise isn't anybody's business. This is going to be a case of listening & fixing it, or having fewer places to fly to.
Don't you think? Really?
Enjoy, Berk

In Europe, many aircraft are mandated to use silencer/mufflers, as we have here in cars. Many of the aircraft we use here are outlawed in a number of Euro countries because of noise.
We could start here by addressing that painfully noisy prop used on C185 which has been proven to produce more thrust by reducing rpm to 2650 on takeoff. Of course we could eliminate Harley's also, but will we.
Gomolzig is a manufacturer of silencers in Switzerland I think.
To help keep our airports, who here, is willing to give up a little hp for a little quiet?
Jeremy

maules.com wrote:I Of course we could eliminate Harley's also, but will we.

This would cause me joy to no end, but I understand it gives the weekend warriors a hobby. I do think it's much more of a crime when a Harley so loud rides by and my girlfriend and I are reduced to just moving mouths, all sound completely washed away. I am a former motocross racer, so it takes a lot to annoy me, but a super loud Harley makes me want to spray them with an AK-47. A little buzzing plane in the sky pales in comparison. The stupidity of the masses will never cease to amaze.

Hey Zane I still ride a KX250.I have yet to hear a motocross bike that is as loud as a Harley.Gotta be one of the most obnoxious sounding machines on the planet.125 at 14000 is sweet!On a serious note I say we be proactive and seek a Federal grant to develop a muffler for aircraft that really works.At the same time petition the FAA for a 15# across the board weight increase to allow installation of same with a no hassle approval process as part of the deal.I have heard people say the Euro mufflers rob power.I believe it can be done without any power loss at all.I'll start with my plane and let you know how it goes. Bill

Bose makes a really sweet muffler........lightweight, no excess back pressure or power loss. I was thinking that guy from Joyce who has that real quiet square inch in the Olympic National Park could benefit from this too.

Whoever pulls off the silencer/muffler will make alot of $$$ when the City's, Municipalities and airport governing bodys accept it as an answer to noise complaint and mandate a noise level. However half the noise comes from prop tip speeds especially from long props at too high a rpm and this is directly related to us the operator. Shorter props or geared engines?? OR less rpm.
You know, It'll be so much more pleasant in the cockpit too. Maybe we can keep an airport or three open. We have the technology but how do we get overapathy.
Besides, I vote out Jetskis and leafblowers as well.
Jeremy
PS especially Jetskis pumping oily exhaust into the water where I cannot use my floats 'because of polution'.

The older I get the more I like quiet engines. I still like loud, but only in small doses. I have quads, snowmobiles, a Harley, dirt bikes, and an offshore boat, and I have never found a muffler system that doesn’t rob some HP. The small loss in HP IMAO is worth the stealth qualities. Less problems with the federalies. Don’t kid your selves into thinking that quiet will make the aircraft and airport haters go away. They won’t stop until the last internal combustion engine has been melted down to make wind chimes and spikes to hammer into trees…Rob

maules.com wrote:In Europe, many aircraft are mandated to use silencer/mufflers, as we have here in cars. Many of the aircraft we use here are outlawed in a number of Euro countries because of noise...
...To help keep our airports, who here, is willing to give up a little hp for a little quiet?
Jeremy

I have to think that if it's possible to build a lightweight and effective silencer for a firearm, that doesn't impede the projectile in any way, that it's *got* to be possible to design a simple, lightweight, effective muffler that doesn't impede the exhaust gasses in any way.

If our birds made far less noise, the overwhelming majority of complaints against aircraft would dry up & blow away, effectively saving our ability to keep our flying freedoms, and perhaps allow the public see how useful & desirable aircraft can be. Berk

Quieter aircraft will stop about half the noise complainers. I read a study that FAA or someone did measuring decibel levels: most aircraft overhead are quieter than trucks going by on the highway, the aircraft just is more noticable. Some folks that live near my airport were telling me about being at a neighbor's house, when the neighbor started griping about the noisy airplane going by. Until the neighbor said something, they hadn't even noticed it, as it was less noisy than traffic on the nearby highway. Some exceptions, of course: 185's with seaplane props, etc.
People gripe about jets but the Citations that come in here seem pretty quiet to me, especially compared to most 300 horsepower piston-powered aircraft.

Eric

zero.one.victor wrote:Quieter aircraft will stop about half the noise complainers...most aircraft overhead are quieter than trucks going by on the highway...Eric

Good point. Many city neighborhoods have roadway restrictions posted which prevent trucks from using neighborhood roads - because of the noise.

When we put the R& D into developing high flow, good quality silencers for our engines, with the few exceptions previously noted, the noise complaints will go away. (No noise will produce no noise complaints.)
Berk

A friend just told me that the Cessna 172 aircraft at Daniel Webster college in New Hampshire have a silencer/muffler mounted underneath the aircraft.I'll have to check it out. Bill