What Sid said, except I don't live at Mueller. Many of you probably don't know that the citizens of Austin voted to move aviation from Mueller to Manor in 1987. But subsequent City Councils made no efforts to do so (as most wanted Mueller to remain the "convenient" airport), until the Air Force announced the closing of Bergstrom AFB in early 1992.

We hear the same planes in Windsor Park an other nearby n'hoods, and while the noise is nothing like the takeoffs from Mueller (we were subject to the jet's blasting for the entire length of the runway, not the shorter fly-over noise in the runway's path), it's still a reminder of what could have been.

I'm skeptical we could ever have an impact, but we could request more usage of the eastern (but shorter) runway at Bergstrom to put more planes out of the east Austin path. Maybe that's something to bring up at a City Council Candidate forum? - Rick Krivoniak

Rick, that's a great idea. I do think if enough people complained, they would look into it. The other day I counted 6 very loud flyovers in 1 hour. I'm not sure why they seem to be getting louder and more frequent but they are. Granted that the noise was much louder when the airport was here but it also wasn't as busy as it is now. Also I wouldn't have chosen to live at Windsor/Hyde Park at that time and for that reason. I don't accept that dealing with 6 planes an hour from 6am-11pm is just part of city living. Only east Austin deals with this noise pollution. As the airport expands, it will only get worse so would be good for the city council to start to come up with some solutions now. If anyone else feels same pm me and we can do a call campaign to the City Council.

I hate to have to offer dissenting anecdotal evidence, but: before we lived here, we were on the lower part of Cat Mountain for several years, and there was plenty of plane noise there. Higher up, to be sure, but directly overhead.

I actually find this location to be more quiet.

Before you complain to the city, you should realize that airport noise is a zero-sum game - less for you == more for someone else, unless there are large unpopulated areas near the flight path. It also isn't clear that we are getting more than our share of noise here - on some days, I will hear several early morning planes, and on others none - so it seems that the traffic on a given day will use one of several different "lanes", and the lanes are selected, at least partly, to even things out.

If you're determined to tilt at this particular windmill, you should begin by finding out how air traffic is routed in order to make your case that we get more than our fair share. I wouldn't be surprised if we were - remember that for 10 years, Mueller was that "large unpopulated area" - I'm sure that part of the routing is based on who complains the most.

Since the airport is city owned, you should start here:
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/austinairport/contactus.htm

One other factor to consider - at least some of the noise you hear may be due to your home's design and construction, particularly the windows. The low-E specification used at Mueller may be useful for energy efficiency but it has little to do with sound transmission. Some of the builders here used good windows, others didn't.

And to answer your question, we are not directly in the flight path from Bergstrom - from the western runway, the flight path would be almost 1 mile east of us.

Doug

Thanks Doug! Very helpful advice. I think you are right about the design of the home making a difference. Since I have a DW home that is basically an upside down V, it seems to act as a megaphone for the sound of the planes. The frequency is also an issue. I have been in Austin all my life and have never lived anywhere that had even 1/10 the amount of air traffic as here. My visitors have all commented on it recently too.

Our group decided to make an open records request for info regarding air traffic over this area for proof in hand. We will see what we can do from there. Thanks again.

"Does anyone remember when Mueller was an active airport? The planes that were landing came in right over IH35 where Best Buy is and it felt like their wheels were going to hit the roof of your car as you passed underneath them. Now that was close AND loud! "

Long long ago in high school we had practice at Morris Williams and you could sometimes get a golf ball to move backwards hitting it into the wash behind a plane. The sound the air would make after those huge planes passed and landed was wicked...like the air getting ripped.

You could also hear that "wicked - air ripping" sound standing outside the Flightpath Coffee House at 51st and Duval.

And yes, Mueller IS directly in the flight path for Bergstrom's original, longest and most used runway. From my Windsor Park home of 29 years, I used to hear the VERY noisy military planes (not subject to FAA noise reduction rules) screech overhead at a frequency (pun intended) that was often quite irritating.

Did any of you catch Air Force One flying over last Tuesday. I heard it coming - we don't have any regular 747's flying in and you learn when the sound is different. I caught a good look at AF1 from my back yard.

Austin was also very lucky that no major planes crashed at Mueller, but I can recall five small plane crashes that included deaths, house fires and taking out electric service while Mueller hosted general aviation.

I remember standing right under the flight path of a jet taking off from Mueller while I was playing golf at Mo Willie. I described the vortex sound as being kind of like electrical wires whipping about freely. Was spooky.