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295 k ¢ Mr. Matthews: The typical FAA approved traffic pattern altitude for small air- ports will bring an airplane in roughly half a mile off the side of the runway at an altitude, and this can be set by the airport owner; typically it's 800' above ground level. Some airports have chosen to raise that altitude to a 1000' to 1200'... Primarily for noise. There are some airports that have a mix of high performance of jet traffic -- low performance propeller. They'll put the props low and the jets high to separate them. The airplane typically would continue at this point about a half a mile off the center of the runway. Till it reaches a point roughly one half to three quarters og a mile beyond the end of the runway at which point it would make a 90 left turn and begin descending, it would actually begin descending at a point about adjacen� to the end of the runway. We would begin a descent, turn another 90 left turn to line up with the runway, approximately 2500 to 3000' out. At that point the airplane would be maybe 300' above ground level as it turned its final approach. The FAA specifies for all airports that a left turn pattern is standard. Which means essentially that in turning into a runway the airplane is always making a left turn; in taking off and turning away from the airport it's always making left turns. The problem with_.is, and HWA has a right hand pattern, on runway 26, being the approach from the East over NC 86. HWA has adopted a right hand pattern for runway 26; a left hand pattern would have aircraft flying down here which of course is a very heavily developed residential apartment area. So HWA has a right pattern so that when aircraft are operating back to the West they will make right turns landing and right turns taking off. This is one of the things we do for noise abatement. We would possibly raise the traffic pattern altitude; we might have preferential runways; you might decide, for example, that there are areas around the airport that are noise sensitive that should not have traffic over them either at any time or during specific times during the day in which case we might say between the hours of 8 P.M. and 7 A.M. land and take off only on a certain runway. There are several different things we could do to alter that traffic pattern if necessary. Ms. Crawford: Asked if there was any reason Mr. Matthews was aware of that would preclude its /Midway's% using a left hand pattern. Mr. Matthews: Responded that he didn't know of any now. But that was an option that was completely up to the owner of the airport to choose to "imple- ment a right handed pattern or a higher or lower altitude" under FAA standards. Mr. Irvin: - Referred to the public hearing of duly 8 (on this same request) and said that some people had said noise was not a problem around airports. He continued saying that now Mr. Matthews was indicating that it was a problem, citing "shifting air approach patterns" and acoustical standards for buildings near C airport zones. Mr. Matthews: Agreed that noise was a factor for "some operations" and some airports. He,added that noise, he thought, would have been more of a consideration 0 in the Midway initial proposal because it would have had "virtually unrestricted. operations of jet aircraft." Now that won't be a problem, Mr. Matthews, said, because the owner indicated he would not allow regular operations of jet aircraft