SO our Lord Mayor had fun in the Tucano training aircraft at RAF Linton on Ouse (April 27).

While she was having "a fantastic time looping the loop, undertaking twinkle rolls and brake turns", I wonder if she gave any thought to those living in villages and countryside to the south of the city under her aircraft.

We have to endure on an almost daily basis, hour after hour of the harsh rasping noise of these training aircraft and sometimes well into the night, which turns the pleasure of our gardens into a nightmare.

Rather than exacerbating the problem she should use the influence of her office to mitigate the nuisance.

I can understand the need for training but telephone calls to RAF Linton-on-Ouse result in their spokesman explaining the problem and sending out well-produced pamphlets without putting forward possible solutions - in effect saying that the local population will just have to put up with the noise.

The idea of reducing the noise of the Tucano engine or the crews doing their training on a rotational basis in a different airspace does not seem to occur to them.

Michael Deacon,

Stockhill Close,

Dunnington, York.

Updated: 10:43 Saturday, May 26, 2001