The following people attended the meeting at Senator Kennedy's office:

Alan Brown	Hanscom Aero Club (USAF)
Phil Meteer	Hanscom Aero Club (USAF)
El Hilliard	Executive Flyers, Hanscom Field
Roger Bacchieri	Daniel Webster College, Nashua, NH
Terry Flieger	FAA, Air Traffic Division
Arthur Davis	FAA, Air Traffic Division
Nancy Risso	FAA, Flight Standards
Bradford von Weise	Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA)
Dean Saucier	National Business Aviation Association

* Congressional Aides from Senator Kennedy's, Congressman Meehan's and Congressman Tierney's
office were in attendance
**Handouts included the USAF's alternating airspace locations and N # logs

Highlights from this meeting included:

- Executive Flyers (Hanscom Field) will update their noise sensitive area map to include areas of Groton
- Executive Flyers (Hanscom Field) will not dispatch flight training (student and instructor) to noise sensitive areas
- USAF (Hanscom Field) will continue to rotate their activity. On even-numbered months, aircraft is dispatched south of Route 2 and odd-numbered months, north of Route 2. While north of Route 2, activity will be dispersed to a much larger airspace area than Groton.
- Daniel Webster College (Nashua) dispatches on average 20 aerobatic flights to Groton per day. The additional areas of Wilton and east of Manchester were discussed and it seems possible that other airspace within 25 miles of Nashua could be utilized.
- East Coast Aero Club (Hanscom) was not present but Senator Kennedy's office will be sending a recap of the meeting.
- AOPA (Washington office) sent letters to the flight schools requesting their assistance to "fly friendly".
- AOPA representative, Ford von Weise mentioned that part of the dues paid by pilots are used to promote the AOPA's "fly friendly" policy.
- FAA verified that airspace under flight paths is legal for training as well as airspace south of Route 2
- Discussion of possible waiver to use airspace over Fort Devens for aerobatics
- Active involvement of Groton Selectmen and Plane Sense in citizen groups at Hanscom - HFAC (Hanscom Field Advisory Committee)
- Plane Sense members clearly stated that their goal is not to move flight training activity to other geographical areas, rather, they are seeking distribution throughout the entire Boston/NH airspace.

Statement read at beginning of meeting:

First of all we want to thank you for taking the time from your schedules to discuss the status of our ongoing concerns with small aircraft noise pollution. We especially want to thank Melissa and Tom of Senator Kennedy’s office and Bernadett of Congressman Marty Meehan’s office for their assistance in this goodwill endeavor. We should mention that Plane Sense’s “fly friendly” efforts have expanded beyond a group of residents. It now encompasses an entire community as evidenced by our Selectman’s endorsement of our mission to distribute GA activity throughout the entire available Boston/NH airspace.

Regarding progress – I’ve provided partial logs from one area for the dates of May 10th, July 6th and July 13th. Incidentally, July 13th is the date Terry Flieger of the FAA visited Groton to listen to the noise and the only noise heard originated from the Pepperell jump plane and over-flights.

I should mention that we are truly appreciative of the USAF’s “fly friendly” approach. They are rotating their practice sessions south of Route 2 during odd-numbered months and north of Route 2 during even-numbered months. Additionally, their activity is being dispersed in a much wider area than in the past when flying north of Route 2.

However, we are seeking additional cooperation since we are still subjected to an excessive amount of noise pollution. Therefore, I’ll put forth some ideas to initiate discussion that we hope will ultimately lead to an approach to solve this problem fully realizing that in order for this effort to be successful, both parties must be good neighbors. Our goal for today is to leave with action items to solve this quality of life issue that we believe can be corrected.

First, we all must recognize that a very serious noise problem exists in Groton during the daytime and occasionally evening hours until 10:30 p.m. The noise originates from flight schools, private GA pilots, private aerobatic pilots as well as the Pepperell’s jump plane’s constant upward, spiraling climbs. Our logs as well as an increasing number of complaints to the FAA substantiate this fact.

In order to solve this problem, additional airspace must actively be sought out. Some questions to be answered include:

1. What airspace currently exists for flight school training?
2. What airspace restrictions can the FAA eliminate, for example Fort Devens?
3. Is the airspace under flight paths restricted for flight schools?
4. Why aren’t practice sessions concentrated over Route 495, Route 3, Route 2, the Mass Pike, industrial parks or other non-residential areas?

Next, the distribution of available airspace among flight schools must be determined. One suggestion would be to maintain the USAF’s alternate approach and have Executive Flyers fly north of Route 2, East Coast Aero Club south of Route 2 and Daniel Webster College in New Hampshire. Another possible approach would be to use the three areas identified on the USAF’s map and have each of the Hanscom flight schools assigned to a particular quadrant.

Lastly, follow-up mechanisms must be put in place to ascertain that a good faith effort is being adhered to. Currently, Hanscom Field’s citizen groups include the HFAC (Hanscom Field Advisory Committee) and HATS (Hanscom Area Towns Committee) that the Groton Selectmen and Plane Sense will become active members on. Additionally, it would be helpful if the FAA would periodically monitor the airspace via radar information to verify distribution of aircraft to ensure that the promotion of aviation is accomplished with minimal impact on residential areas.

These are only suggestions. We would appreciate your assistance. Thank you.

News   |   Fly Friendly   |   N Numbers   |   FAA Data   |   AOPA   |   Websites   |   Contacts     Noise Effects   |   Legal

Daniel Webster College   |   East Coast Aero   |   Exec Flyers   |   USAF   |   Acrobatics