OU responds to noise complaints around Max Westheimer

Feb. 22—The University of Oklahoma has responded to noise complaints from locals near Max Westheimer Airport.

Rep. Jacob Rosecrants, D-Norman, said he had been receiving complaints from constituents about noise around Max Westheimer Airport, which is owned by the University of Oklahoma.

At last month's OU regents meeting, the OU Board of Regents approved a $5 million budget for a new 10,000 square foot hangar project at the airport which will hold new airplanes.

As of last month, the university owned 19 aircraft. It will replace 16 of them, which will be sold, and it will expand its fleet to 28 total aircraft.

By the time the project is completed, the university will own 25 new airplanes. Delivery for the aircraft has already begun and will be complete by the end of March.

According to Eric Wydra, director of the OU School of Aviation program, the school owns Piper Warrior Single engine trainer planes, the primary trainer plane, which cruise around 100 miles per hour.

Piper Seminole Multi engine trainers cruise at 120 miles per hour, and King Air B90 Turboprop aircraft, which the school also owns, cruise at 230 miles per hour.

Rosecrants said people have noticed more plane activity, particularly between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. and that they are keeping people up and waking up children.

"It's just one of those things. If you're in certain zones, it's going to affect you, and those zones aren't very large," Rosecrants said.

He said among neighborhoods affected are Greenleaf Trails and an area south of Brookhaven Village.

"I just want to make sure we're not bothering people, especially late at night with kids," he said.

Scott Kovalick, general manager at Embassy Suites, said the hotel sits within 150 yards of the air strip, and that he has never received a complaint from a visitor about noise from the airport.

"This hotel is built to withstand anything coming at it and I'm sure our windows are of commercial sound," Kovalick said.

He said the windows used at the hotel are double paned and of commercial-style, and that residents having noise problems may want to consider swapping out their windows.

Wydra told The Transcript that students are required to do training flights for different classes, including Private Pilot, Commercial, Instrument Flying, Flight Instructor and Multi-Engine flying.

He said airplanes over Norman are in controlled airspace operated by the airport Control Tower. He said around a five mile radius of the airport, planes fly about 1,000 feet above the ground.

"When they are training in flight maneuvers, they can be anywhere from 1,000 to 8,000 feet depending on the maneuvers," Wydra said.

The university has identified areas for flight training southeast and southwest of Norman over what Wydra described as "lightly" populated areas.

"These areas are anywhere from 10 miles to 30 miles southeast or southwest of Norman. Since the airspace over Norman is controlled, we do no flight maneuver training in this area," he said.

Wydra said most takeoff and landing training is done at surrounding airports to alleviate congestion at Max Westheimer. These airports include David J. Perry in Goldsby, Purcell, Chickasaha and others.

"The only students who do takeoff and landing practice at Westheimer are our Private Pilot students as learning to take off and land are their primary skill requirements, and we need to maximize training time in that area," he said.

Typical lessons last one hour, though some students fly to distant airports, which require a lengthier trip.

Wydra said the Federal Aviation Administration doesn't have noise requirements in Norman, but the school works hard to keep it quiet.

He said the FAA gauges OU aircraft at 76 decibels on the A-weighted scale for noise measurement(dBA).

"For comparison, if you were standing at 50 feet from I-35, a passenger car traveling at 65 miles per hour produces 77 dBA," he said.

Wydra said the noisiest times of a flight are the takeoff and landing.

"When we are in the airport traffic pattern or coming in for landing, our power levels are much lower than full power, and thus much quieter," he said. "Your typical small jet aircraft that operates into the airport is at 90 dBA."

Because Max Westheimer facilitates private airplanes, it is open 24 hours a day. Wydra said OU students are restricted to do training exercises between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.

"There may be some instances where students will arrive later than 10 p.m. — for example, returning from a night cross country in the summer — but they are restricted to just one landing at Westheimer to a full stop. The only time we really see this is in the summer and it is very uncommon," Wydra said.

When asked whether he believes students are accountable for noise between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m., he said "The airport is open to the public, and we are just one of many users at the airport."

Rosecrants said certain locals don't believe that OU students restrict their exercises to 10 p.m. because they are hearing airplanes circling the area.

"It's just too consistent. It sounds to me like it's flying students [past 10 p.m.]. I could be wrong, and we may need to look into that more," Rosecrants said.

"Common sense needs to prevail here. Let's not have them up there past 10 p.m., or if you are going to do it, make it rare," he said.

Rosecrants said solving the noise problem will take a multi-pronged solution, which may require bringing people together. In addition to encouraging OU students to respect curfew hours, he said he is open to pushing subsidies for affected neighborhoods to upgrade their windows. He also said realtors need to be more accountable to their clients.

"I think a little bit of it's on realtors to make sure people understand where they are moving or building. A lot of the complaints obviously are in newer areas that have just been built," Rosecrants said.

Brian King covers education and politics for The Transcript. Reach him at bking@normantranscript.com.