It has been quite a while since my last visit to Wiscasset airport. There is not nearly as much interest in views from low flying aircraft, at least fixed wing ones that require a pilot and a window that opens. Drones have taken over the air space, up to a certain altitude at least.

Back in the film days and in the early digital days, I flew quite frequently and have a pretty substantial pile of images made over the years. I go back to the grass strip days at Adams Pond International with the likes of Dr. John Andrews and his highly recognized yellow Piper “J3” Douglas Carter while spotting fish and Professor Minzy’s Citabria. Ahhhh, those were the days. Not only did we have fun but we covered a lot of territory. The Adams Pond grass strip could be challenging – water on one end, trees on the other. “Give ‘er hell John” I used to say (under my breath of course) as we slipped over the tree tops or considered the water. You just never knew for sure how the flight might go until it did. Those boys made me join the clean underwear club more than a few times!

This time out of Wiscasset I was able to secure passage with old friend and frequent flying partner, Ann Walko. We have done a lot of flying together over the years. She is a seasoned veteran with multi engine and jet ratings, also an instructor. And, she has a new plane for her, a luxurious Cessna “180.”

I say luxurious because she and I have flown many times in a Cessna “150” and a “172,” both considerably less spacious and slower that the “180.” When she punched it at the end of the runway on takeoff, the plane’s powerful engine got us airborne much more quickly than our other rides. That bird can fly! We got over to Boothbay very quickly which is quite helpful when working on the clock. There is so much more room in the cockpit and far quieter.

The last time I flew in a “180” was quite a long time ago with Dick Goodrich when we were doing air to air photos of a Beechcraft King Air which was used for charters and cargo. The photos were used for a big diorama at the Portland Jetport showing a view from the mouth of the Kennebec River up to Bath. It was all we could do at full throttle to get abreast of the King Air for photos.

Ann effectively maneuvered the “180” once we got to where I needed to go, then we had a little time to cruise around the region taking in views of Boothbay Harbor, and Southport then up Back River and back to Wiscasset. Our timing turned out to be fortunate as the haze from Canada fires and less pleasant weather followed shortly. Mother Nature rules the airways. Weather can turn very quickly and has, but that’s another story. This flight was perfect and I think the images turned out OK. What you see isn’t always what you get but at least with current technology you know if you screwed up more quickly.