Guard looks to fly at low levels in Maine

WATERVILLE – The Massachusetts Air National Guard wants to be able to make low-level training flights over western Maine in F-15 fighters.

An officer at Otis Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod suggested the flights over a narrow space from Bethel to Monson would be rare, if at all.

“We probably wouldn’t be in western Maine, for fear of going outside of it and getting in trouble with traffic control,” said Lt. Col. Michael McGee.

Some residents are angry. The Rangeley Lakes Chamber of Commerce learned of the draft proposal only last week, and the deadline for public comments is April 13.

“They must have been working on this for several years without telling anybody, and now you get a couple of weeks to comment on it,” said David Guernsey, a pilot from Kingfield. “Everybody’s pretty much in the dark about this.”

The proposal would allow the fighter planes to fly at a ground-hugging altitude of 500 feet in a portion of the Condor Military Operations Area. Currently, the jets are not allowed to fly lower than 7,000 feet on training flights in Maine.

In 1992, the National Guard made a similar request to lower the deck for its training flights to 300 feet. The proposal was rejected in Maine.

The concerns now are the same. Critics say the noisy jets could damage their quality of life and lead to increased safety risks.

McGee agrees that the F-15 Eagle is noisy. But he said it’s important for military pilots to practice at low altitudes.

“It’s a skill that we need to have for combat capabilities,” he said. A pilot needs to “devote most of his attention to flying the plane at that level. If you’ve got a one-degree nosedown attitude and you weren’t paying attention, you’d be dead pretty quick.”

The 102nd Fighter Wing, which wants the changes, is responsible for intercepting incoming international flights that are deemed to be a threat and escorting them to Bangor International Airport. Its F-15 fighters were the first in the air over New York City following the Sept. 11 attacks.

After the deadline for public comments ends on April 13, information will be used in the final draft and a public hearing will take place at some point, probably in Maine, said National Guard Capt. Monty Beckel.

Guernsey, who worries that floatplanes on area lakes and small airports in Rangeley, Carrabassett Valley, Bingham and Bethel could be affected, acknowledges the need for low-level fighter training.

But he said flights are worrisome, both for safety and quality of life.

“They’re noisy, and they scare people,” he said. “This is pretty close to treetop level. It would scare you.”