Gilmore says he'll meet with OLF opponents next week

Former Gov. and current GOP Senate candidate Jim Gilmore plans to meet next week with members of the ad hoc group formed to oppose the Navy's proposed "outlying landing field," the Tidewater News in Franklin reports. (Here's a link.)

Former Gov. and current Democratic Senate candidate Mark Warner hasn't responded to requests for a meeting, the paper says.

The outlying landing field, or OLF in milspeak, would in essence be a 2,000-acre training runway with a 30,000-acre buffer zone. The Navy says it needs an OLF to take pressure off of Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach, where pilots practicing touch-and-goes routinely rattle walls and drown out conversations.

The Navy has identified a handful of potential sites in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina.

Residents of both areas oppose the possibility for a wide variety of reasons.

Comments

[Spank That Donkey]

Having grown up in Richmond and with the 192nd Tactical Fighter Group which roared off Byrd Field in F-105 Thunderchiefs, that rattled the windows on take off... I remember a bumper sticker, that I fully agree with... Jet Noise the Sound of Freedom!

I'd much rather hear my fighers overhead than those of my enemy... I wonder if the residents of London complained about the noise of Spitfires, and Hurricanes?

Of Course not, they knew better... I'd like to see an outlying airfield in the Shenandoah Valley....

[J. Tyler Ballance]

Having grown up near the Norfolk Naval Air Station, I have always considered the sound of our military aircraft to be equivalent to the sweet sound of LIBERTY. With multiple OLFs, our aviators can have several training options and they will be able to schedule night operations on a site-rotation basis, so no single area would be subjected to frequent night operations.

I would not hesitate to buy a home near an OLF. The Navy is an especially good neighbor, and always good environmental stewards.

To the those folks who are crying, "Not in MY backyard" (NIMBY) over the OLF, they should be reminded that, "Support the Troops" also includes accommodating training facilities like the OLFs. We can't be NIMBYs. Suck it up, do your part to "Support our Troops" and welcome the OLF to the local economy.