We used to live near OLF Coupeville (Out-Lying Field) on Central Whidbey Island Washington. We loved our house & gardens and the setting was sublime. As a thrice-awarded winning sound recording engineer of 40 years experience, I feel qualified to state that the presence of the aptly named "intruder" aircraft which flew at low altitude over our neighborhood many times in the course of a week, dumping fuel, and creating sound pressure levels in excess of 116 dba, was torture for the entire family and neighborhood. The Navy's press agents tried to convince us that their method of measuring sound levels -- "L D/N" (loudness day/night) proved that their flights were not at all loud and that we must be "NIMBY"s. L D/N, of course, represents the average noise level spread out over a 24 hour period, not instantaneous. Fyi, our neighborhood's normal ambient sound in the day time seldom exceeded 50 dba, and at night even less -- except when those jets were roaring ahead. Imagine a bucolic soundscape suddenly interrupted by a grotesquely loud machine roar for about 40 seconds, then gone; then a few minutes or even an hour of quietude, then another roaring jet. Imagine this going on all night long. Imagine trying to sleep, or watching your wife's and kids' sanity going downhill. That was in 1990, and we got out. Not, there is a newer, even louder jet which flies even more often. I sincerely feel for those people who, unlike us, do not have the wherewithal to move away from such aural violence. Hawai'i 7/20/23
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