As head of a state agency that manages more than 900,000 acres of recreational land, Patrick McGowan travels to all corners of Maine while on the job.

While extended travel may not be unusual for a state commissioner in Maine, McGowan’s periodic means of transit is. He occasionally uses his personal floatplane.

“This is a good way for me to get around the state and see the places where we are working,” said McGowan, the commissioner of the Maine Department of Conservation for the past four years.

McGowan took his first solo flight at age 16 just four years after he was bitten by the pilot bug while flying with two family friends. Now 51, the state official typically logs anywhere from 50 to 100 hours of flying time every year in one of his two personal planes.

Many of those trips are personal as he flies with family or friends to camp or to events in Maine, New England and beyond. But McGowan also puts his pilot’s license to use in his role as conservation commissioner, a job that puts him in charge of Maine’s 47 state parks and historic sites and more than two dozen public reserve land units.

“It’s a time-saver,” McGowan said.

During the recent fundraising campaign to expand Baxter State Park, McGowan flew at least 20 trips into Katahdin Lake. Passengers included potential donors, journalists and legislative leaders involved in approving the complicated land transaction.

The Pittsfield native also periodically flies his plane to state events far from Augusta. And on more than one occasion, he has reported potential forest fires to the Maine Forest Service, which is also a part of the DOC.

McGowan’s passion also extends to the machines that take him into the air. He has owned seven different planes during the past several decades, most of which he bought and fixed up before reselling.

Making a comparison to antique cars, McGowan said a well-maintained airplane will actually appreciate in value over the years. That has allowed him to keep his flying hobby going.

McGowan’s current plane of choice – a 1958 Cessna 180 that seats four – is nearly as old as he but is showing fewer gray hairs. That’s because he has largely overhauled the plane inside and out. The commissioner also owns a 1946 Aeronca Champ, a two-seater with fewer modern amenities.

Over the years, McGowan has had a few frightful moments while flying, such as the time his engine quit and he had to land in a pasture. He and his passenger both walked away without injury.

In higher-profile instance, the pontoon on his floatplane struck a rock in Moosehead Lake while McGowan was taxiing near Lily Bay State Park. The pontoon filled with water, causing it to sink and making the plane tilt into the shallow water. McGowan was not injured.

Those few instances aside, McGowan described flying as a source of relaxation and a chance to see parts of Maine that would be more difficult to reach without a floatplane.

“It’s a great way to travel, especially in Maine, which has about 5,000 lakes and ponds,” he said.