When is a policy not really a policy? When it has a loophole large enough to fly a plane through. Or worse — several planes, circling continuously, at all hours of the day and night.

On Friday, Oct. 17, touch-and-go flights at Vance Brand Airport began — as they often do — around 6 a.m. and continued until nearly 11 p.m. It was, as residents have come to expect, a day of nearly nonstop pattern work. At times, more than seven planes flew the circuit simultaneously — a saturation that forced each to widen its turns and descend lower than both the Voluntary Noise Abatement Program (VNAP) and FAA safety guidance recommend.

The VNAP was designed to balance training needs with community peace. But on days like that, the balance tips entirely toward the flight schools. The problem lies in the p

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