Noise or $$ or another possibility, personalities. These are 3 true stories.

Before I start I am not picking on IMAC, it is just the venue in which they occurred.

1) Mesquite Tx. A long standing club without any problems from neighbors (I was told.) During the Advanced sequence, a pilot did a roller over the neighboring houses (there typically were not any Advanced or Unlimited pilots flying at this particular site), which resulted in a call to the local police or sheriff. In the clubs defense the police didn't believe the complaint until while standing on the neighbors porch another plane (40% or so) was doing a roller over the persons house, again. The officer came to the contest, asked for the CD, explained the circumstance, and the contest was temporarily shut down. The CD explained to all the GUESTS(contestants) the situation. Surprisingly, several of the better pilots said screw that, I'll make my roller as big as I like( they were not members of this club.) Needless to say, after the agrivation began, it couldn't be stopped.

This wasn't noise but the noise is what got the home owner outside to see the plane. Was the field tiny, NO. Was it for $$, NO.

2 years later the flying site was shut down for good.

2) 2000 IMAC Nats. We had been told up to this point, no noise complaints had been filed by the owners of the little farmhouse just off the property. This is with Pylon racing, Control line speed, ect et going on for a number of summers. This was however, the first year IMAC was held at the Nats.
2 Unlimited Pilots in particular had their engines slightly underpropped and the props would make an extremely loud, and this is not the constant drone, barking noise when the engine was full throttled, which in their case was usually only on up-lines. When approached after the complaints neither pilot changed props but said they would try to keep the noise down with throttle control(didn't work)
The other issue is due to the size of the pattern and the planes, a number of us were actually flying over the house(yes I'll admit, I'm as guilty as anyone, trying to win, and the pattern that year was Huge in Advanced.)
Of course AMA is still there, but it is strange that complaints were issued the first year giant scale was flown there.

Was this $$ oriented No. WAs it about courtesy, yes.

3) Conroe Tx(I think, not 100% sure) Their first IMAC contest an ajoining property owner complained about the noise for the first time (again is what I was told) Numerous Pattern contests had been held. Because of the problems, no contests are held there now, although the field is still open (again, what I've been told) The conditions the club had to make to keep the field was to not have ANY contests.
Was this $$ oriented, again NO. Was noise the cause, Yes.

Before all the IMAC guys come hunting for me, this was all what prompted Wally Pitts and IMAC to begin a huge noise survey and trying to prevent this above.

What was found was this;

1) Prop noise carries a lot further than the pilot at the field realizes. Wally was at a field when a ripping prop on a 40% was flying, so he hopped in his car and could still hear the prop over 1 mile away, with a decernable measurement on his DB meter.
2) There is no good/repeatable way to measure aircraft noise while sitting on the runway!!!!! Any ground noise limitation can be faked (lower full throtttle setting with a switch) and prop noise is different in the air. I had a 37% Extra, 3w 150 with a 3 blade prop that on the ground was measured at 107DB, however in the air, most came up to me and were amazed how quiet it was. By the same token, others that were quiet on the ground, could be heard a long way from the field.
3) Still, to this day, regardless of what good flying more quietly would help with, a number of pilots in different disciplines are unwilling to try to fly quietly. It didn't matter what IMAC did to try to help it's situation, many refused to cooperate and local contests simply didn't enforce any noise rules.

The last portion is what happened here in Lubbock. We fly at Reece Technology Center (old airforce base.) The nearest house is over 1/2 mile from the runway, and we flew farther away than the nearest runway. At my job, I was talking with a guy, telling him my hobby to which he got very upset. He stated that since the airforce base had shut down, the IRRITATING noise caused by our models was tremendously disturbing to him, compared to the noise full scale jets made. This really baffled me, but then caused me to start thinking. A 40size plane going here, there loops wahhh wahhh wahhhh can be very irritating compared to the constant growl of noise from an interstate. I remember as a boy, hearing a Fox 35(unmuffled back then) from control line, being very distinct a mile away because you could hear the sound change as the plane flew in its CL circle.

Trying to be objective and look at both sides, noise is a huge problem, most don't/won't address. Consider also, the number of clubs that have an award for first flight on the new year. Neighbors, sleeping, hung over, wake to a whine whirrrrrr wahhhhhh at 0630 on a holiday. Think about it.

Just my $.02 worth.

ed