Make flying quieter, says Tewkesbury MP
Tewkesbury MP Laurence Robertson is hoping to get the Government to help make aviation quieter.
The Conservative member for Tewkesbury, who has Gloucestershire Airport at Staverton in his constituency, raised a question in the House of Commons about what requirements there were for light aircraft landing at airports near housing developments to have silencers fitted.
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Minister for Transport Paul Clark told Mr Robertson: "The Department for Transport has had no recent discussions with the Civil Aviation Authority about the fitting of silencers to light aircraft. The effective management of aircraft noise includes a number of elements, including action to address noise at source. While it is possible to fit silencers to some light aircraft, this can have an effect on engine power and consequently engine performance."
Mr Robertson said later his question had been motivated by contact from constituents about noise at Gloucestershire Airport.
He said: "I'm not against aviation, I think it's good for business and I think the opportunity for the less well-off to go to Europe or the USA, which is a recent thing, should continue.
"But I have had complaints from people who live nearby and it's clear that the noise can blight peoples lives, so we need to try to make flying as quiet as possible
"I'm trying to push the Government a bit to see if they can make silencers a requirement."
And bosses at Gloucestershire Airport say they would be delighted if it became law to make silencers on light aircraft mandatory. It currently offers a 20 per cent reduction in landing fees to planes with silencers to encourage their use.
Managing director Mark Ryan said: "We'd love it if all aircraft were made to have silencers.
In fact we see the ridiculous situation where some of our tenants buy an aircraft from European countries like Germany where they are required and they take them off to use them here.
It then costs a lot of money and paperwork then to get a silencer fitted back on.
"We are very aware of our resp- onsibility to our neighbours, and would ask everyone to lobby their MP and MEP to put this silly situation right."
A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority said: "Silencers are not mandatory and we have no plans to make them so.
"The UK adheres to certain standards on noise and we don't mind much how that is achieved, whether by silencers of engine design."
He added that people importing 'planes from Europe were not required to remove the silencers, and said: "Anyone who imports an aircraft must get it inspected and validated by the CAA, you can't just bring an aircraft in and start flying it around.
"Any silencer must also be validated and some owners my choose to take them off before an inspection."
5 Comments
by peter, cheltenham
Monday, July 06 2009, 7:24PM
“If laurence Robertson is recieving complaints about aircraft noise from Staverton perhaps he should enquire of his local council as to why they are so keen to grant planning permission for houses to be built in close proximity to a busy airport.”
by General Election!, Tewkesbury
Saturday, July 04 2009, 9:43PM
“Did he say make MP's quieter!!!! Although in Mr Robertsons case he's been a little too quiet lately. It must be cos it's flippin warm in Twyning with all that Kerosene!”
by Def Leppard, Tewkesbury
Saturday, July 04 2009, 8:35AM
“Judging by the amounts of kerosene our MP has been claiming in Parliamentary expenses he's either running his own jet or we get to pay his central heating costs, does this mean he's flipped his home nad we are paying the mortgage on his constituency property or is he in training with the red arrows?”
by Ray, Cheltenham
Friday, July 03 2009, 8:20PM
“Light aircraft aren't the problem. It's helicopters - clattering and reverberating noise and vibration generators in my experience.
Some people don't seem to know the difference between a light aircraft and a helicopter, but a silenced chopper would be a great idea.”
by Simon Hobson, Cumbria
Friday, July 03 2009, 12:13PM
“One detail missed here is that of certification costs.
It is true that some owners will remove a silencer (and 'quiet prop') when they import an aircraft with these fitted - but usually it is down to cost rather than a desire to make more noise. As a pilot, you are closer to the noise than everyone else, so there is an incentive to be quieter.
However, after importing an aircraft certified in another country (eg Germany) with a 'hush kit' fitted - our very own CAA insist on all modifications being re-certified to our own standards. So much for the European level playing field we were promised when the costs of JAA regulation was thrust upon us.
In many cases, the owner has found that buying and fitting a standard exhaust and propellor is significantly less costly (I refuse to say cheap !) than the CAA and other charges required to get the mods certified.
Many others would like to fit such noise reducing mods - but again, cost is a major factor.
In theory, the new pan European aviation regulatory system should make some of these issues significantly less of a problem. But it is also inflicting other increased costs on owners and pilots.
So Laurence Robertson should be asking the government what they are doing to remove the regulatory and financial obstacles, rather than mandate some very expensive modifications.”