Hundred Dollar Burger: Plum Island
America’s Oldest Operational Air Field – in the Heart of New England
Buy from Simmarket Buy from Flight1
There’s more to flying than screaming through the flight levels in an airborne bus. The Hundred Dollar Burger series celebrates those intrepid fliers who put their credit cards on the line every weekend to bore holes in the sky. They’re looking for a little relaxation, a spot of adventure, and a dash of sightseeing. They gather for pancake feeds in drafty hangars, tell lies to one another around the avgas pump, and spend their childrens’ inheritance in search of the perfect cheeseburger at greasy spoon airport diners. That’s what this series is all about: small (some might say tiny) airports that are loaded with character, as individual as the pilots who call them home.
This scenery encompasses a stretch of the Massachusetts coastline just below the New Hampshire border and a bit north of Boston in the northeast United States. In this package you’ll find photoscenery covering Plum Island, an 11 mile (18Km) long barrier island, and inland to the town of Newburyport, which is situated on the banks of the Merrimack river. Near the middle of the scenery area lies Plum Island Airfield (2B2), the heart of this project. If you’re arriving by air (what other way?), this tiny airport will be your first impression of the place. We’ve included a highly detailed rendition of the airport based on hundreds of real-world photos. It’s an ideal home base for your GA explorations of New England.
The official Plum Island “trailer” by Jaggyroad Films
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
Just downloaded Plum Island 2B2.
Great stuff—I really enjoy flying into these small fields as opposed to flying these jumbos at 30.000ft.
More please!
Yes sir! In fact, I’m working on the next HDB scenery today – another great small airfield in Massachusetts. It should provide a good companion airport for Plum Island. Keep an eye out…
Hi Bill, I find your work to be the best, bar none, Would you consider doing Nantucket airport (KACK) It is one of the most active felds in New England, If you were interested I could provide you with any and all photos of the feld. Marshall DuBock
Hi Marshall,
As luck would have it, my wife and I are planning on visiting the Cape this coming summer, and I thought I’d take the ferry over (if there is one) and photograph Nantucket airport. If you’ve got usable photos of the airport, I’d be happy to see them. I’ll head over to your site right now and check it out.
We’re staying in Provincetown, so I definitely have that airport on my to-do list, and I’m looking at Martha’s Vineyard as well. Any feedback you have on those would be most welcome.
Hi Bill,
Plum Island is a terrific little package; I am beginning to wear tracks in the runway lol.
In any event, additional food for thought in that area might be Block Island (KBID). It has many similarities in its quaint nature to Plum Island, and helps define the quintiscential coastal New England small GA airport in a similar way that Plum does. My wife and I have had many wonderful day trips thereto from nearby KDXR…both in RL and in FSX! lol. And, if you are also pondering “running the table” with regard to this area, nearby Martha’s Vineyard as well as Plymouth (on the Cape) provide still more musings for potential future destinations!
Blue Skies,
Rusty
Hey Bill…love your airfields and live only an hour from Plum Island here in MA. Did you know they’ve removed the camper and boat from the end of the paved runway? I drove by there yesterday, and the runway’s clear…kinda sad as it spiced up the take-offs and landings there!
Can’t wait for the next MA airfield…can you give me a clue as to location?? Thanks for the great work.
Thanks for the update, Wayne. At least we FSX fliers will always have the line of junk strewn across the 2B2 runway to keep us sharp.
I’m not sure what’s next for my Mass. airports. I collected a few more airports’ worth of photos this past June, but the Pacific Northwest sceneries are selling like hotcakes, so I feel duty-bound to do a few more of them before returning to New England. I’ll definitely make it back there at some point, though.
Thanks for the reply, Bill, and I have your FSX PNW airfields too! They are terrific so please do keep them coming! Meanwhile, 2B2 itself keeps me happy as I know that area so well.
All the best.
Hi Bill!
I love the Plum Island product! I think your next Massachusetts airport should be Beverly Municipal Airport. It’s a 30 minute drive from Plum Island and a 15 minute flight from Plum Island. I fly at Beverly Municipal Airport. It’s a great airport!!! I really want you to make a Beverly Municipal Airport (KBVY) scenery add-on!!! It’s my favorite airport.
It has two runways, 9-27 and 16-34. East side parking and west side parking. On the west side there is a flight school which I fly at. But I seriously consider you making KBVY as a scnery add-on. I’m getting sick of the default Beverly Airport on FSX!
Thanks.
-Sam
I’ve photographed KBVY before, in preparation for doing a Beverly scenery at some point. The only thing I was never able to get was photos of the FBO over on the Danvers side of the field. I’ve called and emailed, asking permission to photograph their facility, but they never got back to me. Do you know anyone over there that you could talk to?
Hi Bill.
I acutally do know some people over there wh ocan talk to you and I also have some photos myself. If you want to email the owner his email is arnebfc@verizon.net and my instructor is also a dispatcher and his email is joshsim87@gmail.com. The phone number for the flight center is 978-774-7755. One other question, are you really going to make a scenery add-on for KBVY?
I forgot one thing to metion, if you want some of my pictures I will just need your email to send them as an attachment. You should travel down to the west side and take a look, great area!
Yes, I actually do know somebody who you can talk to. You can call the flight center and ask permission. The phone number is 978-774-7755. And I actually have some pictures of the west side myself. I can give them to you if I get your email so I can attach them to a file. Looking foward to seeing the KBVY scenery add-on.
Hey bill, Are you still considering doing any more new england airports? i have a few ideas for you, and if you need any help back this way, let me know. I have a cessna 172 that i keep at klwm. There are some interesting airports near plum island, hampton is pretty busy and a very neat airport, and there is a private field near by too
Email me sometime if your thinking of doing any of these, i would love to help in any way
Tom ford
Hi Tom,
Thanks for the offer! Careful, I might take you up on it at some point. I’ve got about 6 other New England airports – mostly in Mass. – that I’ve gathered source materials for. On my most recent trip last month, I bagged some shots at Provincetown airport, and got a nice tour around Nantucket, including unfettered access to the airport there. Things are definitely looking up for more scenery in that general area.
Bill
Well, the offer is there, also i just got back into fs, with a new higher end computer, if you need any help with testing, let me know
Tom
Does anyone know where to get the 1.1 patch from? The link that was on the old FSAddon forums no longer works.
Hi Bill, You might want to check out my facebook page to see some of my photos of Nanyucket and I did a lot of work for the tv sitcom WYNGS. if you need any photos of Nantucket they may have missed let me know and if you need a bata tester I’m available, thanks Marshall
Hey Bill, You still thinking of doing scenery here? i just purchased a ‘51 7EC 90HP champ, so if you ever get out here again, i can take you to some of these small airports!
Absolutely, Tom! I’m working on Nantucket right now, and have pics for 5 other MA airports in the bag already. That Champ sounds awesome – I might just take you up on your offer at some point!
Let me know if you need my email address. There are plenty of small “private” grass fields all around Hampton, which is right up the road from plum island, at least 3-4 that would fit perfect in Flightsim. There are a few down further south too, still in MA
Thanks, I will. I’ve got a whole bunch of projects on the drawing board right now, including a couple in MA. Once some of those have cleared off, it’ll be time for more pics. Stay tuned.
Hi Bill,
OK, I might get some heat for this, but I just have to ask. Is there any chance you might include something from Sandpiper Air (Wings) in your Nantucket scenery?? Love that show……one of my favorites.
Regards,
Rob
Would be great to include Hampton Airfield 7B3 along with Plum Island. Hampton Airfield is the busiest Private airfield in New England. Love Plum Island!
Blue skies,
KAP
Including 7B3 would be great! I fly from there to Plum Island all the time. The default airfield is only mildly similar to the real thing. This would make a great pairing!
BTW – you can’t actually get a hamburger at 2B2 but there is a seafood joint down the road. Hampton Airfield (7B3) DOES have some of the best Hamburgers around however!
Keith