Hanscom Air Base / Bedford (KBED)

Hanscom has the advantage of being not too far from Boston (16 miles from Cambridge) and accessible by public transportation Monday through Saturday. It is a relatively big (and of course busy) GA and business airfield with 2 paved instrument runways.

How to get there from Boston
Flying clubs

To get there

• By car:
  get to Alewife, at the corner of Cambridge, Belmont and Arlington (from MIT: take Massachusetts Avenue all the way up through Cambridge, until a traffic light where it becomes Route 2A, where you turn left to Route 2; Memorial Dr and Fresh Pond are another option). Take Route 2, then I95 North for about 1/4 mile, that is take the very first exit lane after you enter I95, but turn on the second exit after the bridge. Follow the Hanscom field sign (ie turn right after about 2 miles) to reach the Civil Air Terminal.

• by public transportation:
  Red Line outbound to Alewife. Take bus 76 (also called 62/76): the Civil Air Terminal is the terminus. The bus ride is $1.25. Usually one bus every hour, every 30 min during rush. Check the schedule at the MBTA web site
  

Flying Clubs
In the Civil Air Terminal, you'll find two FBOs:

• East Coast Aero Club
  Phone: 781-274-6322
  Web: http://www.ecas.com
  Difficult to present the club without sounding biased. So let's get it straight: East Coast has a nice, seriously maintained fleet, at reasonable prices, a friendly and knowledgeable staff, instructors to fit all needs, and yes, they support the MIT Flying Club financially, because a lot of MIT affiliates fly there. We like the club, and consider it a good choice. Which of course doesn't mean you cannot find such a nice blend, or even a better one depending on your particular needs, somewhere else. But we do recommend you to check it out if Hanscom is on your list. In the detail, the fleet is composed of 2 PA-38 Tomahawks and 4 brand-new GPS-equipped Diamond Katanas for initial training, 6 PA-28 Warriors and 3 Cessna 172s for IFR training or cross-country, 2 IFR PA-28R201 Arrows as complex trainers, a PA32-300, and two twin-engines, a PA44-180 Seminole and a Cessna 310Q, and two sims (AST 610J and AST 300). All the details about their fleet, rental policy and rates on the very complete site, listed above.

• Executive Flyers
  Phone: 781-274-7227
  Web: http://www.executiveflyers.com
  A very large, very professional FBO on the field. They operate mostly Cessnas (8 152s, 7 172s, including two brand-new S and SP, a brand-new 182) and Beechcrafts (a Sierra, at a competitive rate for a complex, and a Duchess as twin), but also a few Pipers (3 Warriors), and nice aerobatics planes (a Decathlon and an Extra 200). They also have a Frasca 141. Check their web site for details.
  Note that the rates published on the web site, when last checked, didn't include the 2.5% Massport tax.

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