F-35s are too loud for populated areas
The Air Force and Tucson have had a tremendously friendly and mutually beneficial relationship for decades. Ordinarily, news of a new flying squadron deployment here would be well received.
Unfortunately, the Air Force has made a huge blunder in the design of the new F-35 aircraft. It is too loud to be flown near any population center on the continent. The “sound of freedom” notwithstanding, Tucsonans have not heard an aircraft this loud before, and will be appalled if a squadron of them starts flying here.
Serious noise-abatement measures need to be added to this aircraft before it can coexist with any population center. Our proximity to the Goldwater Range and 350-plus days of excellent flying weather every year make us a great location for flight operations.
However, our still, dry desert air and flat valley floor are especially conductive to sound, and make us a very poor match for the F-35 aircraft in its current configuration.
Robert Perkin
Colonel, Air Force (retired)
Tucson
Arizona Daily Star-1/23/10
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