As everyone is aware, Hanscom (KBED) is partially surrounded by the Minute Man National Park, which is an active tourist attraction and a national heritage (tours are given there on a daily basis).  We, as pilots, may only be vaguely aware of the activities at the park on a daily basis.  Park visitors, however, are often acutely aware of our presence because of the proximity of the traffic patterns to the park trails and historic locations.

We are asking for all pilots to make an extra effort to “fly friendly” by keeping the traffic patterns in tight, and being aware of the noise footprint even a 150 to 200 HP airplane can generate.

As background, here are some of the issues.  Use of runway 23 creates the most noise over the park; use of runway 29 creates the highest concentration of traffic over or near the park.  The traffic patterns we fly are situated where they are (usually to the south of 29 and east of 23) for a number of reasons; primarily to avoid jet traffic entering from the west and flying their visual arrivals to the north of 11-29.  The point is that our traffic patterns are there for a reason, and are not likely to be adjusted.  However, we can help reduce our noise footprint by flying these patterns tighter, and with more altitude and ground track awareness.  Here is our suggested guidance:

• Climb at Vy (or Vx) until at pattern altitude.
• Fly all patterns at 1000’AGL (1133’ – 1200’ MSL).
• Turn crosswind as early as practical (the AIM recommends 300’ below pattern altitude). On 23, a turn at 833’ will be helpful.
• Fly the downwind as close to ½ NM as practical. On 29, this means a turn to place the downwind leg over the “old tees” or just beyond the chevrons on runway 5. On runway 23, fly it over the chevrons on 29.
• Be aware of what the winds are doing to the ground track so as to keep the pattern parallel to the runway. On any runway, try to avoid over flying the national park, especially along route 2A where most of the activity occurs.

Thank you for flying friendly!
The EFA Team