The noise, noise, noise … Neighbors annoyed by Butte helicopter school. Silver State Helicopters

David Salo hears helicopters from inside his house when all the doors and windows are closed. He hears them at his desk at the Forest Service, and even when inside Wal-Mart and Quality Supply.

He was recently housebound for a few weeks recovering from minor surgery and said the noise was “like taking a squirrel and putting it in a cage and shining a bright light on it all the time.” Steve Luebeck and family live next door on Queens Court, northeast of the Bert Mooney Airport.

Silver State Helicopters http://www.silverstatehelicopters.com/ opened its Butte flight school in January 2005, but air traffic didn’t peak until September.

By Roberta Forsell Stauffer

Full Story: http://www.mtstandard.com/articles/2006/02/26/newsbutte_top/newsbutte_top.txt

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Silver State responds to neighbor concerns

By Roberta Forsell Stauffer

Richard Krott, general manager of Silver State Helicopters’ Butte flight academy, says the company’s long-term goal for Butte is to focus less on training pilots and more on basing commercial operations out of here.

If it’s any consolation, helicopter pilot trainees are buzzing around communities all over the country.

Silver State Helicopters now has 20 flight academies in eight states, with more to come.

“It’s happening nationwide where airports used to be in a rural area and now they’re building up all around the airport,” said Richard Krott, general manager of Silver State’s Butte school. “You go to any airport in the country and ask if noise is an issue and every one of them is going to say yes.” Krott has received about 10 complaint calls, and whenever possible, he seeks solutions. For example, a woman near Timber Butte was really bothered by the copters, and Krott worked with students to avoid her house.

Full Story: http://www.mtstandard.com/articles/2006/02/26/newsbutte/hjjdjhhdjjgbgh.txt

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