The major environmental issue affecting commercial flights at Hanscom is the political environment created by wealthy, well-connected area residents who are perfectly happy to have their flights out of Logan, etc., go over other people's houses (areas near Logan are typically poorer and less influential) but don't want flights going over their own. It's classic NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard).

The "national park" in question is a collection of Revolutionary War sites that happen to lie along a state highway that was there long before the park was designated. It's a major artery connecting towns to each other and to area freeways. The park is not something like Yellowstone or Yosemite that's isolated from civilization and entered only by people who want to use it. Calling State Route 2A a "two-lane road," while technically correct for most of the few miles between Hanscom and Interstate 95, is sort of like calling Michelangelo an "Italian interior decorator." This is a "sound bite" meant for people who don't know the area.

The roads to the Manchester, N.H. (MHT) and Worcester, Mass. (ORH) airports are no better. That to MHT is a slower (mostly 30 mph, many traffic lights) two-lane road. Getting between ORH and I-290 involves five miles of city streets including the downtown area. Those are major regional airports with scheduled jet service via multiple airlines to multiple destinations.

And as far as aircraft harming the historical sites goes, much larger aircraft overhead don't seem to hurt Old North Church or the other downtown Boston sites - all of which are more fragile than a battlefield. For that matter, being under the Heathrow traffic pattern hasn't hurt Windsor Castle either.

End of rant. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming ...

[This message has been edited by Efrem (edited 09-18-2000).]