Massachusetts airport comments

Unfortunatley the sandy beach on the Northeast area of the pond, where seaplane pilots had previously beached their aircraft, has been acquired by a new owner and has been roped off to any traffic.

I was back and Hanscom yesterday, and was charged the $14 ramp fee for a 4-hour stay as well -- it doesn't have to be overnight. Gas was a bit over $7.00/gallon.

The cost for a cab into Boston (Back Bay) was $55 + tolls (none on our route); however, we had to wait about 40 minutes for the cab after North Atlantic called it, so it would be a good idea to radio them before you land (123.3 MHz) and ask them to order it for you. Make sure you have the street address of your destination, because the cabbies may be relying on their GPS to navigate.

Another alternative is to take a short cab ride to Beverly Depot and catch an MBTA train into Boston, for about $8-10.

There is free parking here by the control tower. Alternatively, you can park on the other side of the field at North Atlantic for $5/day (piston single).

North Atlantic makes three trips a day with their truck to fuel planes in this area, so you can still get fuel without taxiing across, as long as you plane is there long enough.

For a piston single, quoted over the phone 2008-05-16:

Landing fee: none

Handling fee: $10 (waived with fuel purchase)

Parking: $5/night

Note that there is also free parking under the control tower on the east side of the field, if you prefer.

I believe that this is the only FBO left at Logan, an airport that hates GA more than any other public North American airport (thanks to Massport). I called Signature just to see how bad the fees are, and here's what I got for a two-night stay in a Piper Cherokee (note that not all of them are under Signature's control):

$33.00 landing fee

$166.60 parking (2 nights)

$48.40 GA fee (!!)

$56.00 security fee

$28.00 handling fee (waived with 7 gallons fuel purchase)

I didn't ask about a customs fee, but there's a steep one at Bedford/Hanscom (also run by Massport), so I expect there's one here as well. I think the security fee is for being poked, prodded, and metal-detected by the TSA, just like if you were flying on the airlines.

By comparison, if I flew my Cherokee into Washington/Dulles (another large airport affected by 9/11) and parked at the Signature there, I'd pay an $8.00 landing fee, $18.19/night parking, no customs fee, no security fee, no GA fee, and the same $28.00 handling fee (waived with 7 gallon fuel purchase).

I notice that Google has pixelated the satellite view (as of 2008-02-15), probably because Hanscom is a U.S. military base as well as a public airport. Unfortunately, they've pixelated the civilian side as well, so you can't see the FBO, terminal, etc. very well.

I didn't see anything military when I visited, but I certainly heard it -- there were regular bugel calls coming over hidden intercom speakers, which was a bit funny, including (I think) reveille at 7:30 am on Valentine's day. Do soldiers really sleep in that long these days?

I parked at Signature for three days during a business trip to the Route 128 corridor, and it wasn't too bad. The airport was friendly, and while gas was expensive (over $6/gallon), I didn't need too much of it. I think parking was $14/night. The FBO wasn't willing to brush snow off my plane for any price when I called -- they said they're not allowed to touch the planes (!!) -- but they were fast to give me a forced-air preheat when I had trouble starting in cold weather for departure on Valentine's day (and the line guy, Jeff, was very friendly). I don't know what, if anything, the preheat cost, because it hasn't shown up on my credit card yet. Excluding that (and the landing fee, which the airport will charge), my total bill was about $160, including 22 gallons of 100LL and three nights' parking. That's about in line with what I'd pay at Teterboro (TEB), which is a similar bizjet-style GA airport for New York City, though much busier.

The Worcester Regional airport has been in financial trouble for a while. It's owned by the city of Worcester MA, but since the expected airline traffic has evaporated (despite a lot of GA), it's running a big deficit. Massport (who run Bedford/Hanscom and Logan) are already operating and subsidising the airport, and the city is trying to convince them to take over ownership. They've recently renewed the agreement with Massport until 31 December 2008:

http://www.telegram.com/article/20080115/NEWS/801150646/1008/RSS01

I read on a mailing list that a pilot visited the airport today (2007-11-11) and found that the restaurant has been closed permanently.

Here's the web page with the fees -- read 'em and weep:

http://www.massport.com/hansc/hansc_operating.html

If you landed at 11:05pm and met customs, you'd be out $235 in fees before you even taxied to the FBO. The after-hours fee for customs applies all weekend, so this isn't a great place to clear coming from Canada ($175 customs charge on a Saturday).

Signature's fees aren't quite as bad -- in December 2006, they were asking $12.75/night for parking, and a $25 handling fee (waived with fuel purchase).

Excellent for breakfast and lunch. If you are flying in there is no fuel available.

Since 1924, Katama is one of those special airports: it's located right at Martha's Vineyard South Beach and there is a special parking area right at the beach - get out of your airplane, cross the road and you are at the ocean. There is a nice diner on the field, called the Right Fork Diner - you can enjoy a meal while watching aircraft land and take off on runway 03/21. And if you want to go into Edgartown there is a bus that runs every 15 minutes during the summer season - $1 each way.

Here are some videos of landing, takeoff, and the nearby town from private pilot Rori Stumpf, who flew in on 11 August 2007:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=qeryfLZ-DOM

http://youtube.com/watch?v=WS5q9qAmAbw

http://youtube.com/watch?v=B9NghYyBEA0

The first one includes taxi into parking, and gives a good overview of the airport.

Apparently there's an ice cream stand just off the field. I plan on checking it out the next time I'm there.

Good place to fly for soup or sandwich. Don't expect to find anybody in operations, or expect a cart to assist with your bags. Fuel ain't inexpensive either.

Great restaurant on the field. Worth the trip from anywhere.

Busy GA airport, expensive gas, fees.

Nice little airport, decent fuel prices.

One of the nicest airparks in the US. Taxiways (grass) are separate from the streets. Driving around you wouldn't even know it's an airpark. Paved and lighted runway. Self-Service fuel.

This is a good airport for visiting Boston. It's outside of the security zone (no prop locks or security fees), is reasonably inexpensive, and is near two commuter rail lines (the FBO will often give you a lift to the station for free).