Cranland Airport, in

Hanson, Massachusetts Hanson is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Part of Greater Boston, Hanson is located 20 miles (32 km) south of Boston and is one of the inland towns of the South Shore. The population was 10,639 at the 2020 census. ...

is a public use

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

owned by Cranland Inc. It has one runway, averages 102 flights per week, and has approximately 28 aircraft based on its field. Benjamin Atwood owned and operated Cranland until his death on July 13, 1967. Atwood died in an airplane crash close to Little Sandy in Pembroke, MA. Atwood also owned Cranberry Sprayers Inc. located at Cranland. Atwood was one of the first jet pilots in the

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

Dennis K. Burke Dennis K. Burke (born 1962) is a former United States Attorney for the District of Arizona. Early life and education Burke was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1962. Burke received a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University in 1985 and earned h ...

was the sole owner of the airport until July 26, 2011, he sold the airport to Peter T. Oakley, who is also the Airport Manager. One historic aircraft, a

Grumman Widgeon The Grumman G-44 Widgeon is a small, five-person, twin-engined, amphibious aircraft. It was designated J4F by the United States Navy and Coast Guard and OA-14 by the United States Army Air Corps and United States Army Air Forces. Design and deve ...

formerly owned by singer

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (born December 25, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffet ...

(then registered as N1471N), is housed in the main hangar. It is now owned by Burke, who re-registered it as N3N. This Widgeon was rebuilt by former airport manager Michael Maurano. Cranland Airport is also the home of

Experimental Aircraft Association The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is an international organization of aviation enthusiasts based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, United States. Since its inception, it has grown internationally with over 200,000 members and nearly 1,000 chapt ...

(EAA) Chapter 279 http://www.eaa279.org/ . The club hosts a fly-In breakfast every third Sunday each month between April and October 8–11 am and it is open to the public. Dozens of regional based aircraft from nearby Plymouth, Marshfield, And Mansfield municipal airports fly into Cranland where breakfast is served on airport grounds. Aircraft usually include local Cessnas, piper cubs, and other General Aviation icons. some of the most notable regularly appearing aircraft include a rare

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ca ...

powered variant of the Fairchild F.22, a vintage 1940

Cessna 140 The Cessna 120, 140, and 140A, are single-engine, two-seat, conventional landing gear (tailwheel), light general aviation aircraft that were first produced in 1946, immediately following the end of World War II. Production ended in 1951, and ...

, a Vietnam War era Cessna L-19 Bird-Dog observation airplane, a World War II era De Havilland Chipmunk trainer, a Pits S-2 bi-plane, a Boeing PT-17 Stearman bi-plane fitted with a 450 hp engine, and a restored Beechcraft C-45 Expeditor (a former military variant of the Beech 18). The fly-in normally includes flyovers and demonstrations of the present aircraft later, in the June 2012 fly-in an Army National Guard UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter landed at the airport for display being the first time that the Cranland fly-in had any military involvement.

Incidents and Accidents

On August 1, 2007, a small plane crashed 40 yards from the runway. The only death was the pilot, a 63-year-old man.AirNav.com: 28M
''AirNav.com'', 2006, accessed April 26, 2006.

References

External links

* http://www.eaa279.org/index.htm - EAA Chapter 279, based at Cranland Hanson, Massachusetts Airports in Plymouth County, Massachusetts {{Massachusetts-airport-stub