I am responding to your lead article in the Nov. 10 edition (‘Low-flying planes scaring residents’).
First of all, I do not understand how Town of Qualicum Beach councillors can be held responsible for planes landing and taking off from the airport. After all, that is what our airport is for, and has been for more than 50 years.
As for a change in flight paths, I’m not a pilot, but I do know that maximum lift is gained by flying into the wind, not by having a tail wind. Thus, if wind direction changes, so do flight paths.
The airport is vital for medevac, search and rescue and practice parachuting, not to mention commercial flight convenience.
As for Coun. Barry Avis’ idle speculation about moving the airport, I presume it was just that, idle.
And 300-foot trees? Where are they? My dendrology text book says California redwoods may grow that tall, and just possibly old-growth Douglas-fir, but in my experience, none is anywhere near Qualicum Beach.
Dr. A. James Kayll
Qualicum Beach