Flight paths? (Phoenix, Glendale, Scottsdale: renting, living, military)

[TheTravellers]

Seems we're now currently in an area under some kind of flight paths (probably military), which we didn't think we were. Looking at the runway configurations of McChord AFB and Ft. Lewis, doesn't seem like Puyallup would be in a direct line from the runways, so that makes me wonder...

Aside from the obvious areas of a few miles directly east and west of Sky Harbor, what areas should we stay away from in the Phoenix metro area if we don't want to be under flight paths of noisy airplanes? Or are those the only areas we should be concerned about?

Thanks much...

[Ponderosa]

They are too numerous to detail. The worst is Tempe, but much of Surprise and parts of Goodyear, Glendale, Buckeye and so on are in Luke AFB flightpaths. There is another commercial airport in the SE valley, flights to Sky Harbor take off and land over Scottsdale and there are many airports with general aviation like Deer Valley and Scottsdale where the noise from small planes never quits. With the big airport in the middle of town and all general aviation and helicopters about, it is really hard to escape airplane noise entirely.

[AZ Tracy]

Travellers,

You can check out these links for maps of all the airports around the area:

Military Airports

Public Airports

[Magnum Mike]

Originally Posted by TheTravellers

Seems we're now currently in an area under some kind of flight paths (probably military), which we didn't think we were. Looking at the runway configurations of McChord AFB and Ft. Lewis, doesn't seem like Puyallup would be in a direct line from the runways, so that makes me wonder...

Aside from the obvious areas of a few miles directly east and west of Sky Harbor, what areas should we stay away from in the Phoenix metro area if we don't want to be under flight paths of noisy airplanes? Or are those the only areas we should be concerned about?

Thanks much...

Another area to stay away from is around hospitals that have heli-pads. Helicopters are sometimes worse than jetliners when it comes to noise.

[Magnum Mike]

To elaborate a little more on Ponderosa's list of airports, there are some cases where you can be in the approach or take-off of flight paths. One example, is Deer Valley. ILS headings for for runways 7L and 7R are 73 degrees, 25L and 25R are 253 degrees. Most approach patterns for Deer Valley start at 2 miles west and 2 miles east, except of course if they're coming directly from the east or west. Sometimes you won't even see the aircraft turning for the glide path or final approach.

Goodyear is a good sized facility, that is also used to dismantle large aircraft, so that might be a problem living less than 10 miles 207 degrees directly southwest of runway 21, and 10 miles, 30 degrees directly northeast of runway 3.

Glendale airport might be okay also, if you live 3 miles 193 degrees directly southwest of runway 19, and 13 degrees directly northeast of runway 1.

[TheTravellers]

Thanks to all for your help, sounds like we have a lot of research to do! I think that we'll try to steer clear of military approaches (since I'm pretty sure they don't have noise restrictions like civilian aircraft do, but correct me if I'm wrong), and we'll just be renting for our first few months anyway, so we'll be able to tolerate it for that long...

[Greatday]

As an aside - We live near Florence junction - no airport patterns to worry about. What we do have, and it's fun to watch, is our area being used as a training area - for a B-17! Lots of fun to watch

[honeymom]

We get some small airplanes from Scottsdale, Deer Valley, and Carefree airports up here. We also get Sky Harbor planes, but they are so high I barely notice them. The only time it is any real annoyance is when the big events (Jackson Barrett and FBR) are in town. The week around those events sees some larger planes coming in (i.e. private 727's)to the Scottsdale Airpark.

[cptndavis]

The entire airspace system in the Phoenix area is currently being redesigned. In a year or two there will be all new arrivals, departures and approaches for aircraft big and small. You could choose an area that is quiet now but two years down the road you may find the FAA has put an arrival corridor into Sky Harbor over your house.

[TheTravellers]

Originally Posted by cptndavis

The entire airspace system in the Phoenix area is currently being redesigned. In a year or two there will be all new arrivals, departures and approaches for aircraft big and small. You could choose an area that is quiet now but two years down the road you may find the FAA has put an arrival corridor into Sky Harbor over your house.

*Very* interesting info - thanks so much for it!!! We'll remember that in a couple of years...