I don't know of any new equipment,.but I would be surprised if ACK
is the second busiest airport in MA. During holiday weekends in the
summer(the 4th for instance) it could definitely be the second busiest
during this time. One thing that ACK has implemented starting last
summer, was an STMP that they could activate on short notice if they
were expecting heavy traffic. This was supposedly a way to keep
ACK from going to a Class C.


"John S" wrote in message ...
x-no-archive: yes
NadCixelsyd wrote:

On WBUR, the mentioned that ACK is getting some new equipement to assist
pilots
in landing. They then mentioned that ACK is the 2nd busiest ariport in
MA,
next to BOS.

HUH?? I realize that many people fly to Nantucket because it's so far
away by
boat, but is the airport really that busy? Busier than Hanscom,
Lawrence, or
Beverly???

I don't have the numbers in front of me, but yes ACK is a zoo, at least in
the warm
months. The rest of the year it is busy, but not greatly so. The FAA has
been
talking about making the airspace there Class C for a few years now, due
to traffic
volume during peak times. Second busiest airport in Mass is probably
stretching
things, at least on an annual basis.

The equipment you heard about might be what a MCI press released just
discussed.
Apparently they are helping implement an underwater fiber optic line from
Cape
TRACON (located at Otis) to Nantucket tower. The article claims this will
"keep
the airport open" in times of inclement weather; although the airport
actually does
not close during inclement weather. Nor does the tower there really need
another
data feed, since IFR separation is handled by the TRACON (or Bos Center
late at
night). On the other hand, this will greatly assist the local tower with
situational awareness of the airspace around them. But I am wondering
if the
reason behind this data upgrade is a precursor to Class C airspace.