Luke AFB Thunderbolt – September 2024
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“We train the world’s greatest fighter pilots and combat ready Airmen”
Thunder overhead: Understanding jet noise
Sept. 2024 Vol. 23, No. 9
INSIDE
By 2nd Lt. Suejin Lim
56th Fighter Wing
It is a typical evening in the West Valley of Maricopa County. As you are driving home from a long day at work, you hear the thundering of an aircraft soaring high above your car. But there is nothing to fear. That thundering is the sound of pilots training at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona.
The 56th Fighter Wing at Luke AFB is the largest fighter wing in the U.S. Air Force, and home to more than 120 F-35A Lightning IIs and 20 F-16 Fighting Falcons. Named after 2nd Lt. Frank Luke Jr., who was awarded the Medal of Honor for achieving 18 aerial victories in World War I, Luke AFB is responsible for training 75% of the world’s F-35 pilots.
Luke AFB takes student pilots from zero to hero with training lasting up to eight months and has graduated more than 61,000 pilots since 1941. Airmen leave the training base ready to win tomorrow’s fight.
Today, the base has a $3.8 billion economic impact to the state of Arizona and the 56th FW trains service members from allied nations such as Norway, Italy, and more. But with Luke AFB’s flourishing operations comes additional noise creation.
Since the base focuses primar- ily on training fighter pilots, Luke AFB conducts about 100- 150 flights each day, Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Although these are the usual flying hours, pilots may occasion- ally fly outside of this window to accomplish unique mission requirements such as training with other agencies.
Flying operations may be noisy at times, but the wing ensures all flights are in accordance with state, local, and federal guidelines in addition to those defined by the Air Installations Compatible Use Zones.
“We’re doing our best to be good stewards of our training in a responsible way for the commu- nity,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Tyler Smith, 56th Operations Group deputy commander and F-35 instructor pilot. “We try our best to mitigate the noise that we create. However, there’s a certain amount of unavoidable noise that’s going to happen when you’re operating fighter jets.”
Courtesy graphic provided by 56th Fighter Wing Community Initiatives Team
A map of Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, and its noise contours. The outermost line around the base is the 65 Day-Night Average Sound Level and the Accident Potential Zones are highlighted on both ends of the runway.
StorIES
Lap-A-Thon seeks runners, 2
ACC Command Chief visits, 3
JWV supports vets, 4 Library re-opening, 6
FEAtUrE
Senior Airman Katelynn Jackson
AF ActivAtes 13th cAB
See Page 6
The Department of Defense manages the AICUZ program to promote collaborative planning for compatible development to sustain mission and commu- nity goals. The program aims to protect the health, safety, and welfare of
community members from the effects of aircraft opera- tions, including noise pollution.
This pro-
gram estab-
lishes noise
contours and
accident poten-
tial zones around Luke AFB. Noise contours are based on an average annual day of airfield operations and are shown in Day-Night Average Sound Level, or DNL. Noise contours ranging from 65 DNL to 80 DNL and the APZs identify compatible land uses in these sensitive areas.
“Luke’s current noise contours are codified in Arizona state law and identify the average noise levels on a decibel level,” said Christopher Toale, 56th FW
Community Initiatives Team di- rector. “Anywhere above 65 deci- bels is generally accepted as an industry standard for when noise becomes a nuisance. For this rea- son, Arizona state law prohibits homes from being built inside the
65-decibel line unless residen- tial buildings were built be- fore 2001.”
Arizona State Statute 28-8481 man- dates that all new buildings inside the 65 decibel con-
tours require building materials to reduce the sound decibels for sound attenuation anywhere between 15-40 decibels depend- ing on the location and what the project is.
Homes built inside the 65 DNL before 2001 do not have to follow the statute. However, the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation has a program called the Community Noise Mitigation Program which offers city or county governments a $75 mil-
lion grant for specified buildings, including residential homes, built inside the 65 DNL to use for new insulation to lessen the noise.
When taking off from the run- way, the safety of pilots, aircraft, and the community are at the forefront, which involves coordi- nation with the local air traffic control and the 56th FW Range Management Office. Aircraft take off from Luke AFB and fly to one of several areas within the Barry M. Goldwater Range or military special use airspace designated for military training.
The RMO is responsible for scheduling flights and manag- ing the 14,585 square miles of available training space [SL6] at the BMGR and military operat- ing airspace. The RMO is also responsible for land management of the BMGR and as such conduct scientific studies to ensure the flora and fauna within the range are safe from harm.
For example, the RMO tracks endangered species like the So- noran pronghorn on the BMGR and ensures that they are not
See ThundEr, Page 5
Continue to get Luke’s latest news and information from these sources: https://www. aerotechnews.com/lukeafb/ https://www.luke.af.mil and social media
Luke56thFW @LukeAFB
Date of publication
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of the month Submission deadline 15th day of the month prior to date of publication
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“... Sonic booms are also part and parcel to our train- ing, and we need to train the right way so we can build the right instinctive habits for those pilots,”
Director Charles Buchanan 56th Flight Wing
Range Management Office
