TheBulletin.ca Journal of Downtown Toronto
Ian Steer —
Porter Airlines supporters missed the big picture at Toronto’s City Hall public hearings into allowing jets into an expanded waterfront airport. Ask any resident if jets like Boeings or Airbuses should be allowed at Billy Bishop airport and the answer is now, has always been and always will be a resounding no! Ask however, if whisper jets should be allowed and the answer must be absolutely yes. These are not jets as they are known today. Whisper jet engines, technically known as geared-turbofans, are two to four times quieter than all previous commercial jet engines. They are the first ever jet engines as quiet as turboprops.
Turbine blades are like a canoer’s paddle. Blades and paddles make more noise than engines and paddlers. Turbine blade noise can be reduced. A geared turbo fan allows for the same thrust at lower speed, resulting is less fuel-use, pollution, and noise. Gearing benefit is seen in modern cars using 6 and 7-speed transmissions to achieve higher speeds with less horsepower.
Selling the plan as offering Torontonians easy access to the world is also thinking small. It is the world’s access to it that will transform Toronto, because it will be the only big-city destination in North America with an airport just minutes from the city’s centre, giving time-saving and money-saving convenience to business and vacation travelers alike.
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Most importantly, more than a leap for Toronto is at stake. A quantum leap for Canada is at risk because whisper jets are the future of aviation. To be part of that future, and keep the thousands and possibly tens of thousands of Canadian high-tech jobs now on the line, Toronto needs to do its part. Think big. Do the right thing. Leap with, into and upon aviation’s future and please approve whisper jet and only whisper jet access for Toronto’s waterfront.
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Ian Steer is a Toronto waterfront resident
NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database of Galaxy Distances
The thing is not whether new jets are quieter than old jets. What’s important is there should be NO jets on Toronto Island Airport.
Not only that, there also should be NO airport on Toronto Island. what a dumbell thing the city let happen. It was Dennis Mills, aka Chairman Mills, who used to be a Liberal MP who got the Toronto Port Authority registered.
How dumb is that? Toronto is barely a port. Except for sugar offloaded to Queen’s Quary, there’s barely any ships cargo at the so-called port. The only thing it has is an overblown airport.
But if a guy has a lot of money and friends in government, he can get away with anything.
Carl Landsdowne