by Anne Galloway June 25, 2013 vtdigger.org Chris Hurd, of Stop the F-35, a group that opposes the basing of the fighter jet at Burlington International Airport, played the roar of jet engines outside City Hall in Burlington and the Pavilion Building in Montpelier.
Chris Hurd, a real estate developer from Burlington. Photo by Anne Galloway
At 10 feet from the speakers the deep rumbling roar of the engines hit 115 decibels, or the equivalent of what the F-35 would sound like at 1000 feet. That’s the level at which the U.S. Air Force says would affect some 8,000 residents in the flight path of the jet.
Hurd says the demonstration was the only way to get politicians to listen to what Winooski and South Burlington residents will be subjected to should the Air Force approve the Burlington International Airport as an F-35 basing facility. The airport, located in South Burlington, is home to the Vermont Air National Guard, which flies and maintains the F-16, a fighter jet that was used to protect New York City after 9/11 and was deployed in the nation’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.