Originally Posted by
flg8rmatt
A lot of time winds around here are out of the S or SW as often as they are out of the east or west.
I suspect that 50/50 rule does come into play more often than the acutal wind direction.
I do think it is interestng that it is usually late at night and early in the morning when the planes take off over Tempe. Take-offs are louder...I wonder if that is the City of PHX's way of messing with Tempe...more noise when more people are likely to be at home?
Generally from what I've seen (I used to work in downtown Tempe and now work between downtown Tempe and PHX) and experienced on flights, the change happens between noon and 1pm most days. Landings seem to happen from the West (over downtown Phoenix) in the mornings, takeoffs over downtown Tempe. The change takes about 15 min (I was out walking at the lake and saw flights taking off, stop, then saw landings) before things are switched. I try to fly East in the morning if I can, it saves time from doing a loop in the air, and land from the East in the afternoon/evening.
But since I've lived here, and it sounds like for longer before, the cities of Tempe and Phoenix have always argued over the airport. When Tempe was awarded the site for the new Cardinals stadium several years ago, Phoenix went to the FAA saying it was in the landing path (but most people just thought they used it as an excuse to get the stadium in downtown Phoenix)....in the end neither city got the stadium, it went to Glendale.