SOUND

The land upon which the Sarasota R/C Squadron flying field is built is owned by Sarasota County. There is a long term lease between the two entities. Among other things, this lease requires that sound levels at the field boundaries, generated by the model aircraft, not exceed the levels set forth in the County Ordinance. For this reason model aircraft operated at the Bee Ridge flying field shall be flown within the DESIGNATED FLYING AREA and shall not exceed the following static sound emission limits:

        DISTANCE                        SOUND LEVEL

        Nine feet                             104 dB(A)

        Ten feet                              103 dB(A)

        Eighteen feet **                   98 dB(A)

Aircraft to be on a hard surface, sound meter 12 inches high in the plane of the propeller, greater of right or left side.

Large aircraft whose propellers go 'supersonic' in flight shall not be flown regardless of the static noise level tested.

** Primary Static Test Standard

In order not to exceed the County noise standards at the field boundaries model aircraft shall not be flown outside the defined flying box.

NOTE: If you would like to learn more about how the above standards were derived you are referred to A Neighborly Approach to R/C Aircraft Sound Management by SRQ members Ed O'Keefe and Chuck Prescott. This is a two part article that was published in the June and July 2000 issues of RCM. Sorry, no links to the article at this time.