STUDY GROUP COMMITTEES
Meeting Notes : Navigation Committee


Committee notes reflect the views and opinions of the committee members and not necessarily those of the Noise Compatibility Study Group, Coordinating Council, Regional Airport Authority of Louisville and Jefferson County, or the Consultant Team.
       
back to NOTES       November 30, 1999

Attendees: Robert Barker, Ernie Blankenship, Terry Borne, Dorn Crawford, Aaron Lucas, Norm Nezelkewicz, Steve Rogers, Bill Simpson, Bob Welch, Mike Zanone

The meeting was called to order shortly after 7:00 PM. Several papers were distributed at the opening of the meeting for committee members’ review and further study, including:

    • Proposed agenda
    • Notes of the previous meeting
    • Discussion paper on prospective noise abatement measures
    • Extract of Oct 15 consultant presentation on potential measures and screening criteria
    • Compendium of correspondence on runway use assumptions (for reference; most distributed and discussed at previous meetings), including:
    Consultants’ report of Aug 27
    Committee’s inquiry of Sep 3
    Consultants’ response of Sep 14
    Committee’s further inquiry of Oct 12
    • Subsequent exchanges of email between the Project Manager, committee chair and consultants
    • Reminder notice of December 7 Study Group meeting

The main items for the agenda were a review of the noise contours presented by the consulting team at the last Study Group meeting; selection of noise abatement measures to present for Study Group adoption to guide further analysis; and a review and update on committee interaction with the consulting team on runway use assumptions.

Noise exposure contours presented on October 15th showed a radical departure from patterns forecast in the previous study for areas north of the airport. The committee is still studying potential explanations for the difference, both to determine what remediation is in order, and to avoid any similar problems in the current effort.

The committee reviewed noise abatement measures suggested in the last consultant presentation, and considered ways either to refine these suggestions to address specific problems at SDF, or to add measures not already suggested. Members first emphasized that measures formulated now are to set up a firm analysis – not make final recommendations for adoption. Finding the principal categories presented in October adequate as a framework, the committee arrived at the following list:

Runway Use Programs

    Alter preference for east runway

      Limit runway preference to daytime only
      Eliminate runway preference
      Reverse runway preference

    Raise tailwind threshold for reversing flow to 10 knots
    No exceptions to contraflow, unless emergency

Flight track changes

    Set uniform departure criteria for turning

      Altitude
      Distance
      Navigation markers
      Geographic features

    Make west runway divergence 15°, not 20
    Apply divergence to all departures on west runway


Approach and departure procedures

    Route all arriving traffic into IFR approach corridor - no cancellations
    No VFR
    Noise-optimal SIDs/STARs


Advanced navigation technology

    Ground-based: markers, beacons, lasers, other
    Airborne: GPS/FMS (current vs milspec), microwave, other

Airport facilities (referred to New Technologies Committee)

    "Hush houses"
    counter-frequency generators


Airport use restrictions

    Conformance to noise compatibility program (NCP) by all aircraft


Airport regulations

    Require NCP briefings for all ATCT personnel and pilots using SDF

Measures to enhance, monitor, or enforce noise abatement

    Show effect of full conformance to current NCP, compared to base case
    Noise monitoring
    Flight track monitoring


Returning to the consultants’ runway use analysis, the committee heard an update of exchanges between the chair and the consulting team suggesting the need for added rigor in representing runway use decisions. The chair invited additional feedback on future steps, with the intent in the meantime to continue pursuing clarity and rigor in modeling airport operations.

The meeting adjourned at 9:40 PM, anticipating a lead role in establishing noise abatement measures for analysis in the December 7 Study Group meeting.

         

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