Four F-35s from Hill Air Force Base in Utah landed around 7:45 a.m. after being diverted on their way overseas due to weather and refueling schedules, according to Vermont National Guard public affairs deputy Nathan Rivard.
The planes were expected to remain overnight and then depart, although Rivard would not say exactly when.
The visiting fighter jets provided a sneak preview of the 18 F-35s scheduled to arrive starting in August for permanent basing with the guard, which shares a runway with commercial operations at Burlington International Airport.
The Utah-based jets showed up Wednesday with no advance notice. Rivard heard jets while driving to work and thought Hmmmm, he said. He was surprised to learn the four F-35s were parked on the tarmac.
Airport aviation director Gene Richards was also surprised. He was showering for work when two staffers called to tell him they had been notified by employees in the control tower that the military planes would be landing shortly.
The planes were not making an emergency landing, Rivard said. “Burlington was just the easiest place for them to divert to and refuel before they go to their next destination.” He declined to say where that might be.
Coincidentally, Richards and other airport officials held a news conference at 10 a.m. Wednesday about a new study projecting an increase in jet noise when the Vermont Air Guard gets its own fleet of F-35s. They are replacing F-16s, which were phased out this spring. The four Utah F-35s were visible out a window as Richards and other airport officials spoke about a new 2023 noise map.
It projects that approximately 5,000 people and 2,640 dwelling units will fall within a high-noise zone around the airport, and will possibly be eligible for sound proofing and other assistance under Federal Aviation Administration grants.
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And I bet hardly anyone noticed haha. Go F35 !!!
And no one heard a thing!
I heard them in Milton and thought “that’s funny, the F-16s are gone”. To me, they were no louder, but I admit that’s a subjective opinion.
Seven Days website was down but F35s just took off. About 8:12 AM. Our windows were open (it being late May and all). Insane. And people thought the F16s were loud. We are probably a half mile or more outside of the new “not suitable for residential use” zone. Hopefully no one in Winooski or large parts of Burlington and South Burlington have pets at home this AM or there are going to be a lot of unexpected “accidents” on the floor when you get home. . .
Just saw them over S Hero. Beautiful sight
The sound of fiefdom.
Yessireee . . that there is the sound of “Freedom and Liberty” . . and an empire on the wane, and crumbling infrastructure and a collapsing healthcare system and environmental degradation, the sound of failing public schools and a country being hollowed out from the inside by the bloated military budget.
That is the sound of us sucking the dregs out of the bottom of the keg before it goes bust. Hyper-nationalism is a disease of the mind and it will destroy everything.
“wave that flag . . . wave it wide and high,
summertime done come and gone,
my oh my.”