Every day, two small single engine planes circle over my house for a few hours- disappear for about half an hour and then come back and repeat the circling.This goes on for the whole day - 7:30 AM to 7:30 PM.It is noisy and nerve-wracking.Is there anything l can do?Where can l issue a complaint?l can not believe that these pilots do not think they are ruining the quality of life for the area they impact.Any pertinent input greatly appreciated.

If u can get a good look at the aircraft, either with the naked eye or with binoculars, note the N number on the tails. These should be easily distinguishable as they r supposed to be in letters at least 12 inches high.

Once u have the N numbers for the aircraft, go to the FAA is aircraft registry & u can look up who owns the aircraft. That will tell u the address for the owner of the aircraft ( l do not believe it provides a phone number), & u can write a letter. If u do complain, make sure u provide dates & times of occurrences as accurately as possible.

If the numbers on the tails of the aircraft start with anything other than the letter N, then they r registered in a foreign country (unlikely, but possible). l am not sure how to look up the owner of the aircraft if that is the case.

These are probably aircraft from a flight school, or something similar, using some large point on the ground to practice what we call ground reference maneuvers. If this is the case they should be somewhere around 1,000-1,500 ft AGL which is perfectly safe and l can not imagine THAT loud. You're lucky you do not live near an airport because then you would really have something to complain about.

It is hard to visualize what is being accomplished by the pattern of flight activities u describe. If two aircraft r actually doing that all day every single day, the cost could well run over $100,000 per month.

It makes u wonder. One assumes it is some kind of government operation, which means there is a very serious purpose behind it. You r not likely to be able to affect this by filing a complaint or contacting influential people. At the same time, it is not likely to go on for very long. (You did not mention in ur question how long this has been going on.)

But u certainly r not describing anything that any pilot would do for the fun of it. If it is actually as u describe, there must be some good reason. Student pilots practicing ground reference maneuvers would only be there for a few minutes once or twice a week, mostly on weekends. l am mystified.

Public safety authorities in ur community probably know what is going on & what it means, & for how long it will continue. Try contacting ur county sheriff is department or the County Manager is office. When u talk to the authorities, frame ur call in the form of an inquiry, rather than a complaint.

If u decide u do want to make it into a complaint, contact ur lawyer. An attorney can determine how a complaint should be framed & to what authority it should be addressed.

Good luck!

EDIT: Come on, guys. The lady says she is hearing these same two airplanes circling outside her window TWELVE HOURS per day, SEVEN DAYS a week. Does that sound like student practice to you? How many hours per day did YOU spend on turns around a point? No. There is something wierd going on here.

As mentioned above, the most likely scenario is that they r aircraft from a local flight school/FBO with students practicing maneuvers. They could also be some sort of surveillance or patrol flights or aerial photography flights. If the former, the flight school[s] probably use the airspace over ur house as a practice area for teaching students, & the situation will likely not improve unless u AND ur neighbors complain about it.

Best course of action is to call ur local Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) which is a local agency that can handle aviation concerns such as yours. Go here to find ur nearest FSDO: http://faa.gov/about/office_org/field_offices/fsdo/

You could also attempt to identify the aircraft registration numbers & then find out which flight schools/FBO[s] or private owners the aircraft belong to & complain to them directly (as described by smoothskies above)..although u will have more leverage to rectify the situation if u have the help of an FSDO behind you.

** Two thumbs down? Yeah what do l know, it is only part of my occupation.

Check with some Afghan guerrillas on shoulder launched wire guided missiles. Once the word gets out, they will find some other place to fly over.

Assuming they're over 1,000 feet up, they have every right to do that. You can take ur motorcycle & drive up & down a residential road all night long if u want, even if it disturbs the people who live there.

However, it is far more likely than not that they have no desire to inconvenience anyone living in the area. It is possible that it is flight training & u happen to live near an area that is useful for training for some reason (for example, flat ground with some kind of visible straight line reference or two visible points that r good for practicing 8's). In that case, if u can figure out who it is & call them, they will almost certainly be happy to change their practice area. If you're the only house in an otherwise unpopulated area, this is likely.

The other possibility is that it is something that absolutely has to be done there for some reason. It is hard to imagine what that could be, but it is always possible.

You can try using binoculars to catch the N numbers on the planes. Then u can lookup the owners & call them. You can also call local airports. It will help if u can describe ur location in terms they will understand (X miles in Y direction from nearest airport Z, for example). Someone will probably be able to point u to the right person.

You can complain to the FAA. It will help if u have a tail number.

l am assuming they r not flying dangerously or within 1,000 feet of the ground. If that is the case, definitely complain to the FAA. (That is like driving up & down a residential street all night on a motorcycle with no muffler.)

Could be a flight school. First you need to find out where they are coming from. Get a good pair of binoculars and read the ID numbers off the planes. With those you can go to the local airports and find the planes. If they are from a flight school, you get the name and file a complaint with the FAA.

l have a solution. But u must do it very carefully. Get urself earplugs. and carefully insert them into ur ears. And WALLAHH!!!!

Take some photos when you think they are unduly low. The FAA can deduce the altitude by relating to objects in the photo like trees and houses.

Repeat appearances indicate flight school activity. You probably live in a relatively open area on the Island. Sorry about that. You may want to visit the local airport, and they may offer you a free ride to pacify you.