The noise makes the windows shake
We live about two miles as the crow files from the end of one of the runways used by Otis Air Force Base, home of the 102d Fighter Wing. They fly F-15's out of Otis -- it's quite impressive to see them flying overhead, especially when they're on landing approaches and flying at extremely low altitudes.
The 102d's most visible role in recent years was deploying in the skies over New York on 9/11. Their pilots have routinely been assigned combat roles in the middle east since the war with Iraq started, too.
One thing about F-15's -- they're incredibly loud. It's no wonder: Two huge engines that can propel the things to 30,000 feet inside of a minute. They're considerably louder than anything else that flies out of the base there, including cargo planes like C-130s and the Coast Guard's search and rescue aircraft -- a fleet of Jayhawk helicopters and HU-25 Falcon jets, which from a distance look like business aircraft.
Anyway, every day, at least a few times a day, I get to hear the F-15's throttle up and the end of the runway. It's loud enough to make the windows in the house rattle.
In 2008, the 102d is supposed to move those jets to Westfield, Mass. -- a suburb of Springfield that's a couple of hours' drive from here. The base is staying open, and as I understand it it'll be used for something called "Distributed Common Ground Systems" (DCGS), an intelligence resource gathering program.
And while I'll be sorry not to see the F-15's in the skies anymore, I won't miss the noise.