LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. –
Community planners here revealed the base's latest Air Installation Compatible Use Zone report during a public release meeting at the York County Public Library in Yorktown Aug. 28.
The AICUZ report released showed a very similar noise footprint to the previous report from ten years ago.
"Even though we exchanged two squadrons of F-15 aircraft for the louder F-22s, we still managed to reduce our noise contours through careful management of flight procedures that respect community concerns," said Maj. Lawrence Spinetta, 1st Fighter Wing chief of safety.
AICUZ is a program by the Department of Defense to promote compatible development in the vicinity of its airfields. This includes the adoption of zoning ordinances that reflect compatible land uses and height control of structures near the flight paths, fair disclosure ordinances, subdivision regulations and the incorporation of building codes to reduce the noise levels in structures.
The Air Force wants to ensure that city and county comprehensive plans include AICUZ study recommendations.
"The AICUZ process helps preserve the operational capability of Langley and strengthens relations with local communities," said Major Spinetta.
To reduce the impact of its flying activities on the community, the base continues to implement quiet hours between 10:30 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. unless mission requirements specify night training.
The base has also installed "hush houses" to suppress engine test noise, and changed the preferred runway limitations to allow more departures over water. There is continued work with the Federal Aviation Administration to allow the F-22s to climb higher, faster to minimize noise.