Outlying Landing Field
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The Outlying Landing Field (OLF) is a proposed United States Navy practice airstrip to be built in eastern North Carolina.
Proposed sites for the OLF include Washington and Beaufort Counties along the Albemarle Sound.
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[edit] Motivations
The purpose of the OLF would be a practice field where Navy pilots could simulate landings on an aircraft carrier. In support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Department of Defense re-based several military air squadrons to the eastern coast of the United States. To support these new planes based at Oceana and Cherry Point MCAS, the D.o.D. determined a need for closer practice field in North Carolina[1].
Most of the planes involved are F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter jets.
Planes re-based include:
- 24 fighters (two squadrons of F-18s) to MCAS Cherry Point
- 120 aircraft (nine squadrons of F-18s) to NAS Oceana
[edit] Opposition
[edit] Ecological Concerns
The field's construction has been delayed because of intense criticism for ecological impact. Critics worry about the locations because they are the nesting and breeding grounds for thousands of sea-birds and geese.
Recent concerns include a repopulation project for the Red Wolf, considered extinct in the wild in North Carolina since the early 1980s. Reintroduced wolves[1] have been breeding in the areas around the potential OLF site; ecological groups worry that the air strip would adversely affect these animals' hunting and breeding habits.
[edit] Noise Concerns
In addition, the loud noise of numerous fighter jets is also a cause for contention. To alleviate the noise concern, the Marine Corps. performed "test" overflights of the region[2] to demonstrate what the aircraft would sound like during takeoff and landing.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, located east of the proposed site
- Southern Environment Law Center article
- North Carolinians Opposed to the OLF
- US Navy Press Release explaining motives for this field
- Governor Easley Asks Congress To Stop OLF from The Raleigh Chronicle
- Marine Corps. Press Release from Cherry Point, describing the circumstances.
