Editor,

A letter written by Richard Abraham had some information about Growler jet engine noise in flyovers and included some interesting numbers.

He states that exposure to noise above 85db can and does cause hearing loss, and he is correct; however, what he failed to state was how long this exposure is. According to the CDC, Center for Disease Control, exposure limit chart at 85db hearing loss starts to occur after eight hours, and at 111db, loss starts after 1.5 minutes.

Now, I don’t know of any aircraft other than a helicopter that would be over a school for a minute and a half, a few seconds maybe, and as the aircraft moves away from the school, the decibel level drops exponentially.

The 90db range loss starts after two hours. I think you can see where I am going with this. Yes, jet exhaust is loud, but it is not sitting stationary over your head. It is moving away from you. Those few seconds it is overhead may seem like a long time but is in reality very short.

The main point of his letter was a “hush house,” which the test cell already uses for engine runs with the engine out of the aircraft.

Using one for general maintenance runs would help those of us who live near the airfield and are subject to long periods when they are troubleshooting a problem or performing high power maintenance.

As for me, I will gladly take a few seconds of noise exposure to keep our aircrews safe and many hundreds of people employed.

Mike Van Voorst

Oak Harbor