It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s … really friggin’ loud!
Some Burlington residents are making noise about the loud and low passes made by military jets and aerobatic aircraft ahead of this weekend’s Wings Over Vermont air show. Both Thursday and Friday, aircraft buzzed the Burlington waterfront, getting ready for a spectacle that organizers said could draw up to 40,000 people.
But the loud practice runs prompted some concerned citizens to vent online — or call the police. Chief Brandon del Pozo said “numerous” calls about the noise had the potential to clog the dispatch switchboard and hinder the response to an actual emergency.
“Please advise the public that no number of calls to the police will alter the plans for the show or the level of noise it creates,” del Pozo said in a press release.
Polly Vanderputten called the cops. She also said she contacted Mayor Miro Weinberger’s office, her city councilor, the Vermont Air National Guard, Wings over Vermont and the executive director of the Church Street Marketplace.
The mayor’s office confirmed several noise complaints from people who either called or came to city hall in person.
The Air National Guard received several calls, too, said Maj. Chris Gookin, the state public affairs officer. But there’s nothing they can do to alter the event.
“The air show is here,” he said. “I’m more focused on the fact that it’s the 70th anniversary of our Air National Guard.”
He added: “Some people are just bound and determined to just not be supportive, and that’s part and parcel of our business, to allow people to voice their opinions, their concerns, their compliments — all that stuff.”
Vanderputten said she was on North Beach Thursday when several U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds screamed through the sky.
“It was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life,” she said. “A formation of military jets buzzed right over the beach several times; people clapped their hands over their ears, children screamed and burst into tears, and several people started running, not knowing whether it was an attack or a mobilization or just practice for this weekend’s air show.”
The air show should find a new home in the future, Vanderputten said.
“This kind of flying is extremely dangerous in a high-density urban area; it has no place in Burlington,” she said. “We have children, refugees, veterans and countless other people who do not perceive these military jets as exciting, but as something to be frightened of.”
Kelly Mangan was at home Friday in the New North End when the jets roared by, prompting her to pound out a profane tweet.
“It’s just very aggravating,” she said by phone. “My husband works from home, and the last couple days, when he’s trying to be on conference calls with people in other parts of the country and then the jets come screaming overhead — you can’t hear anything and it’s just really disruptive.”
The first air show was held in 2006. The Parks Commission and the Waterfront Event Advisory Committee approved this year’s air show in spring 2015 after holding a series of public forums, according to Jesse Bridges, the city’s parks, recreation and waterfront director and harbormaster.
With a forecast for a rainy weekend, the two-day schedule could be altered — though Wings Over Vermont vowed to try and get it all in. Weather that “could potentially impact public safety” may force a cancellation or postponement of the rain-or-shine event, the organization said.
“Air show visitors are encouraged to come prepared for all types of Vermont summer weather conditions,” the organization said in a statement.
A few hundred people gathered on the waterfront Friday to watch a day of practice. A Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopter hovered over the water to simulate a combat search-and-rescue scenario, while a Pitts aerobatic airplane dipped and dived through the sky.
Along Church Street, pedestrians craned their necks.
“I thought we were under attack yesterday when the jets were practicing,” George Demas said as he glanced up at an aircraft. “I was wondering if it was 9/11 again, but then I remembered it was the airshow.”
“It’s loud,” he added. “But it’s only one weekend.”
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The deafening sound of freedom. Or the debilitating sound of military – political hubris? The strafings we had from the ridiculous Thunderbirds is like what the neighbors of the airport will have to deal with … and farther out when a plane twice as loud as the F-16 arrives. The noise will not only demolish property values for Winooski, Williston, & South Burlington, but for Shelburne, Hinesburg, and Williston, too. But not South Hero, where Sanders will be holed up. Or over the Leahy’s farm in Middlesex. Not a single job created by the F-35 basing, and there was never a risk of losing the F-16 if the F-35 had been bedded elsewhere. Not a single defense of this boondoggle stands up to scrutiny.
The tone of those supporting jet noise is eerily similar to a Trump rally. “Go back home”…. “Thin skinned, small minded”…. “Get a life”…. “Whimps”… Classic intimidation and bullying tactics. Most Burlingtonians simply want their Waterfront festivals to be optional, not mandatory.
Then there’s Mr. Gookin with: “I’m more focused on the fact that it’s the 70th anniversary of our Air National Guard.” Therein lies the problem. Perhaps, Mr. Gookin, if you dialed up your concern level on noise, you would not be opposed by HALF of the county that surrounds you. Strategically speaking, you’re admitting a fairly big blunder to your long-term game plan.
There is not a single real estate listing boasting “the sound of freedom,” proving that the economic value is limited to jingoists’ wallets and government pork. The bottom line is that excessive noise has negative economic and health consequences. Google any one of the numerous studies demonstrating this.
This weekend’s air show is just a glimpse into the larger issue of noise in Chittenden County. It will take more than bullying by a Trump-like crowd to quiet a reasonable concern held by so many.
Polly Vanderputten, if the refugees were that bothered by the sound of the jets flying over let them go back home, and you can feel free to escort them.
What a bunch of entitled whimps. I traveled to Mexico where tanks roamed the streets with Federali hanging out of it with machine guns. Are you really that terrified by a few stunt jets? You need to get out of your organic, fresh squeezed, no conflict, free trade bubbles and see the world. If your terrified by some loud jets…clearly you have never experienced life and need a reality check.
I’m not quite sure just how our “freedom” will evaporate without these planes, or what evil enemy horde will instantly strike and enslave us in the plane’s absence. We all pay our taxes (even “patriots” who don’t want to) to the military industrial complex, so I guess they figure it’s good PR to subject us, um I mean treat us to a display of where the money goes. But, one thing about cyber war: at least it’s quiet.
I object to grand scale military dick waving and the ridiculous noise it creates as well as the pollution it is spewing into the air. US bombings of the middle east have made us less safe and are the biggest contributors to air pollution. It is a waste of money as well just because it makes the jingos feel strong by proxy. Nothing strong about it. Those planes and the military are in the death business and their endless wars are destroying life on earth.
This article fails to mention the joy the air show performers, such as the Thunderbirds, as well a Vermont guardsmen brought to the children of the UVM children’s hospital and the Make-a-Wish foundation. These children are enduring hardships greater than inconvenient noise. Yet the individuals complaining about the noise seem more miserable than these children.
People against everything are allowed to be heard thanks to those planes. I grew up in Plattsburgh and miss the sound of freedom. Send em over here!
I am amazed at the rudeness and complete lack of empathy by these trolls posting here. In the military, the first thing they teach you is integrity and respect for one another.
Every First Responder who lost his/her life on 911, and I knew several, is shamed by this hatred and vitriol.
This comment is specifically for Polly Vanderputten. The fact you mention there are refugees there that feel worried should tell every sane person reading the article that you are part of the problem. Do you seriously care more about the feelings of some refugee over what the air show means or especially for the pilots of the Thunderbirds? Those men don’t just fly around performing fancy tricks. Those men have more than likely flown combat missions over some of those refugees homelands risking their lives so you can run your bleeding heart liberal mouth. Shut up, by some cheap ear plugs, sit back, and watch the show.