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East Hampton Town
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Aero-Bull
 

In reply to Mr. Paler's letter of 9/2/99, I'd like to, yet 
again, exasperatingly, make the following corrections: (1)  Mr. Paler states that I was "scaring the public about the Gulfstream 5"  Fact is, all I did was state that the Ford Motor Company's Gulfstream 5 (G-V) had visited our
airport and was the first G-V ever to do so.  And in doing so, just happened to be the largest aircraft to ever visit our airport.  By coincidence I took off in my aircraft (a Piper Arrow 2) directly behind, and, for the first time ever at East Hampton Airport, I was delayed 3 minutes because of
self-imposed wake turbulence departure minimums.  You really should have seen her takeoff.  It was an awesome display of power and state-of-the-art aviation technology.  (2)  Mr. Paler states that the G-V could have landed
on runway 10/28 prior to it's reconstruction to 100' width, "but did not exist prior to the end 1998".  Fact is, that the Gulfstream 5 existed in 1995 and the following Gulfstream 5's have been privately registered continuously with the FAA since 1996:  N300L, N777GV, N636MF, N158AF 
and N313RG.  In total there are 84 Gulfstream 5's currently registered in the United States.  This information is readily available on the internet (http://www.avweb.com) to anyone who would like to do homework on the subject they speak on.  (3)  Mr. Paler states that the fact that "the aircraft did not make its turn on the far taxiway is irrelevant to its size".  I submit, as I did in my article 2 weeks ago, that it would not have had to go through all those gyrations if it was not in danger of taking out a sign or tree because of it's magnificent 94' wingspan.  In contrast my Arrow's wingspan is 32'6".  Remember the issue of the 75' wide runway?  Once again, I'm not an anti-aircraft/anti-airport activist.  I love aviation and everything about it.  As a resident of East Hampton, however, I will have my say as to what I believe our airport should resemble and I believe that this aircraft and those of this class should not be here.  (4)  Mr. Paler states that "the noise level of the G-V has been proven to be no higher than the G-IV".  Fact is, he may be right, I haven't got the slightest idea.  However, based on the fact that everything else Mr. Paler had stated in his letter last week is wrong, and there was an eyewitness, Mr. O'Neill,  at the departure end of the runway at the time who complained about increased noise in the issue of 2 weeks ago, my money would be on, noisier.   (5)  Mr. Paler states that I am an FAA Air Traffic Controller.  Partially true.  I am an FAA Air Traffic Control Supervisor.  Besides maintaining operational currency on an active radar position, just like the air traffic controller who works for me, my job duties involve many other things.  Managing a portion of the Northeast Corridor and providing the best ATC service to our users, you, is my number 1 priority.  I am especially proud of the 350 highly dedicated controllers who have worked with and for me for the past 18 years and invite anyone interested in seeing how our airspace system works in "real-time" to come and visit.  You can e-mail requests to me at aviator@bonac.com and I'll arrange a day and time.  (6)  Lastly, Mr. Paler speaks on behalf of the East Hampton Aviation Association and states that he and his associates are "very puzzled and can only wonder at my true motivation".  I can only respond that I couldn't give a hoot as to what the East Hampton Aviation Association is puzzled about.  My true motivation, should there be any further doubt, is to make the East Hampton Airport, our airport, the best little airport in the great state of New York and I invite everyone interested in this endeavor to let their voice be heard both here, in this forum, and to our local representatives and candidates.  Let your voices be heard.  Otherwise, as you can see by Mr. Paler's and the East Hampton Aviation Association's lack of research, and proficiency in guesswork, you'll only be exposed to aero-bull.

Sincerely,

Barry W. Leach