Did something this weekend that I never do — posted without counting to 10. Now, in the light of a new day, I’d like to ammend our statement. The Blue Angels don’t suck. They’re really cool.
For me to poop on.
Yeah, even with time to think some more about it, I’m going to continue my search to change the way the Blue Angels participate in Seattle’s Seafair. I’m not really interested in attracting a ton of ‘The Blue Angles rawk!‘ defense posts though I’m sure they’ll come (maybe even from K — should be noted that she lives under same roof as I do and doesn’t mind the Death from Above bvibe). I know the show is cool. Not arguing that the technology and performance is not amazing. It is amazing. And amazingly loud if you live in the flight paths. I also know that this comes up every year and that, for a few years, the planes were banned completely.
I want to change the way the Angels come into my life 4 days out of the year. The result might be something closer to what one sensible commenter suggests — an annual Seafair-timed trip out of town for us. But I’d like to see what the options are for a solution that doesn’t require everybody to leave town for the weekend. I don’t know how important the issues of the Blue Angels’ military purpose will be in this argument. For my base issues, it doesn’t really matter if the Blue Angels are recruiting for the military. Instead, I’ve laid out what I’ve been thinking about in this little note I sent to the mayor via the city site. I’ll keep you posted on what I hear back.
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Mayor Nickels,
Having just recently moved to Capitol Hill, this weekend was my first experience being in the direct flight path of the Seafair Blue Angels performance and practice runs. It was a quite a disappointment — I am so surprised that nobody has done anything to stop this event. The noise and disturbance for 4 straight days is shocking. Have you experienced this rumble first hand? Try imagining it from within your own home as the walls shake, your pets panic and your children look at you with worry.
1) What can be done to restrict the Angels’ flight area to the lake and require safer, lower volume operation over populated areas?
2) What compromises do you support that could reduce either the number or amplitude of the performances? Possible to limit the performance to one day?
3) Are you able to share information on the number of complaints received regarding Blue Angels from this and previous years?
I maintain a small blog at http://www.capitolhillseatttle.com covering a variety of topics and issues in my neighborhood. There is quite a bit of interest in this issue so I hope you can address the situation. Thanks for your attention.
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–j
Hmmm, ironic that you have a big ad for Blue Angels photos and ringtones running across the top of your blog.
Yeah, we noticed those too. Irony? We think the google ads are mostly kind of ridiculous. I keep them there mostly out of a) curiosity and b) delusions of grandeur.
Any news from your letter? I definitely agree with it. I posted about the Blue Angels a year ago, noting they’re not safe and they shouldn’t fly over such a dense neighborhood. Mixed reviews in the comments. :)
I have collected some good info and will post the response from the city next week. I think there is a chance to get something done, piece by piece.
If you want a nice quiet life move out of the city. It is 4 days that bring lots of joy to lots of people in the area. When I was a kid they flew a lot lower than they do now.