Editor,

We have lived in our current home just south of Oak Harbor since 1992 and we were aware of the local Oak Harbor airport being nearby.

During those 22 years, we have never been bothered by airport noise, even when commercial flights used to operate at the airport.

Beginning in summer 2013, a skydiving business began operating here. They are open for business 9 a.m. to sunset on weekends.

Now, every weekend, we have to listen to their plane grind its way to a 10,000-foot altitude in a noisy, penetrating spiral and then descend in noisy, spiraling turns back to the airport to pick up another load of customers.

They force their noise on us for 30 minutes of every hour, at times, until late in the evening. They blast out their penetrating brand of grinding racket that can’t be blocked from consciousness while they rasp and claw at the sky for altitude and then descend in a tight spiral over our home.

When we complained to the company, we were told they would like to be good neighbors, but they were within Federal Aviation Regulation guidelines.

Great. So the rural neighborhood peace and quiet is now destroyed so an off-island pilot can drop mainly off-island skydivers — all for the profit of this company.

Obviously, no concern was given to the local residents who would be affected by this noise when local permits and licenses were issued allowing this company to operate.

Thanks a lot, local officials.

Norbert Tasler

Oak Harbor