Lighten up and let ’em fly

Dear Editor,

I keep reading with fascination about the ongoing contention over Beta Technologies CEO Kyle Clark’s desire to build an airstrip on his land. I live in Grand Isle, where there is an airstrip on my road as well as float planes on the lake. 

There has never been a problem. Not one. The noise is minimal and certainly far quieter than the F-35 training runs that can happen here several times a year. Seeing a plane in the air so close is almost magical. And when our neighbor sees us, he gently tips the wings in greeting and flies off, and we don’t hear the plane again for hours. These small planes and probably some electric planes — which kind of puts a crimp in the noise complaint issue — are hardly going to ruin anyone’s day. 

I’m having a hard time understanding the fear around this. If Clark is a licensed pilot and the Federal Aviation Administration has signed off on the plan, why is that not good enough? Is the expectation that there will be dozens of flights every day? The planes that fit a 900-foot runway are quieter than the overnight commercial flights that seem to fly over many days a week at night when Clark will be prohibited from flying. 

Lighten up and let ’em fly. 

Josie Leavitt
Grand Isle, Vt.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Lighten up and let ’em fly.