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• ANEF System
• The EFATO
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History
In the early 80’s we saw the first of the Flying Schools which Council considered to be a nice clean non-pollutant industry and a great boon for the community. 
Obviously at that time, never considering noise as being a pollutant.
However, the 1998 Noise Management Report goes into great detail to describe the effects aircraft noise has on people.

Appendix D explains the ANEF (Australian Noise Exposure Forecast) system simply as being a combination of; loudness, frequency and time (of day).

The main aim of pilot training is to practice the most critical and dangerous aspects of flying, over and over again - i.e. Takeoff and Landing.
This is carried out during circuit training by the student performing as many “Touch-and-Goes” in his hourly lesson as possible. One circuit taking just under 4 minutes.

When there are 3 students we have 1 minute intervals between overflights. The noise of one barely fading before the next approaches. (Like a Chinese water torture) and more students means the duration is lengthened to 2 or 3 hours.

We presently have 3 flying schools, not counting helicopters 
Fogarty alone has 15 aircraft with an average of 12 students at any one time
amounting to 4500 hours flying time in 1996. 
Suncoast Flying and Aviation Academy of Qld account for another
8 aircraft and another 6 students at any one time

This then is the frequency factor referred to in the above ANEF System. 
(Frequent repeditave noise events are more disturbing than one very LOUD event)

And when these students do NIGHT TRAINING the time factor is also introduced in as much as
1 nighttime event is equivalent to 4 in the daytime.

Then we have the EFATO maneuver (Engine Failure After Take Off)
which the advanced students practice by cutting the throttle after take-off (or a touch-and-go) to simulate engine failure, and gliding down silently over residential areas whilst the student practices the correct procedures for this situation, until the instructor aborts and declares to “go-around”. 
At which time the throttle is slammed open, generally only feet above our roof tops, and the student resumes normal flying 
--only to repeat a touch-and-go followed by another EFATO 4 minutes later on his next circuit. 

This then is the Loudness factor of the ANEF system. And when they combined EFATO’s with Night Flying the long suffering residents decided they’d had ENOUGH.

The flying schools of course used the FALSE excuse that 
“they were here first”, and “We should not have built our homes near the airport if we couldn’t take a bit of noise” --
The same statements being made by missinformed people even today in the local newspapers.

It was not until 8th. March 1993 (5 years of hell for us.) that the 3 schools of the time agreed to a Gentlemen’s Agreement to Limit these operations over residential areas.

Unfortunately, the larger companies such as Sunstate and Flight West do not recognize any such agreement and now they are looking to use our airport as their Preferred Training Ground.

(Factor in the LOUDNESS of these monsters and the ANEF goes right off the scale !)

What can YOU do?

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