an aerial view of an airport in a wooded area


Mansfield Municipal Airport is located twenty-odd miles southwest of Boston. I must have flown right by it a hundred times over years of traveling back and forth to the Cape. But I had never been there until I stopped in to visit

Hangar 12 restaurant.


Coming from the north, I flew KLWM-KBED-1B9 under the 3000 foot class B shelf at 2800 feet. This stays above Bedford’s 2500 Class D and barely avoids the 2000 foot Bravo shelf to your east. If you want a little more room you can stay west of 128, which is what Boston will probably tell you to do if you get Flight Following .


The 3500 foot runway is oriented 14/32, so it was cocked a little bit to my route, but was still easy to see. The runway and taxiways are in excellent shape. There is also a 2000 foot grass runway if you would rather do that.

a parking lot with a lot of parked cars

There is no FBO at 1B9, but self-serve fuel is available.


I found out the stupid way that Mansfield must be fairly quiet. I got home from a recent visit without my iPad, which I figured out was on the ramp at Mansfield. I flew down the next morning, kicking myself, wondering what kind of mangled device I would be retrieving. Picturing it smashed with tire tracks and footprints all over it, I was amazed to find it exactly where it had landed the afternoon before. No one had moved it, much less stolen it, and except for a dinged corner it was unmolested. So I’m guessing the ramp is not super busy. As to why the iPad spent the night on Mansfield’s sleepy ramp, I had left it on the wing, and it blew off when I started up. I came home, wearing a mental dunce cap, but with the iPad little the worse for wear.


Hangar 12


I guess that losing my iPad was a fair trade for discovering Hangar 12. It’s a really nice place, with good food and really nice people.

a person sitting at a table in a restaurant

The restaurant is right off the foyer for the terminal. It is bright and sunny with good views of the ramp.

a group of people sitting at tables in a restaurant






That’s Wade, the owner, on the left…





and this is Lauren, who took care of us while we were there.

a woman sitting at a counter in a restaurant



Wade describes Hangar 12 a being an unfussy place that serves good food the way people like it. And that’s exactly right. It’s the kind of place your Dad would like. I had a chicken caesar salad that was very good, and Harry, my instructor, had the single cheeseburger and fries. That was plenty of food for us both. There is a double cheeseburger for the truly hungry that I just might tackle next. I just hope I’m not going down to retrieve my iPad!

One of the best parts of visiting these airport restaurants is having a chance to chat with the folks who make them go. In talking with Wade, I learned we grew up maybe a mile from each other in the same town. Who woulda thunk it! It was great to share memories of our old home town, and it wouldn’t have happened without Hangar 12.