Taking to the sky with Flighttime

Mon, 08/19/2019 - 8:45am

The Wiscasset Newspaper got a different perspective of the towns it covers thanks to Flighttime Inc., a flying club based at Wiscasset Municipal Airport.

Sean Rafter of Bradford Road, Wiscasset piloted the club’s four-passenger Cessna 172N on a 90-minute flight over the Midcoast Thursday morning, Aug. 15.

The pictures show a bird’s eye view of Wiscasset village, the Boothbay peninsula, Westport Island, the Twin Villages of Damariscotta and Newcastle, and more. From Wiscasset, the flight went southward circling Seguin Island and then traveling northeast to Rockland before returning. David Pope of Federal Street, Wiscasset went along for the ride.

Rafter, who’s been flying since 1964, said he’s logged just shy of 11,000 hours of flight time but still gets a thrill every time.

Flighttime stores its plane in a hangar at the airport. The club’s 14 members take turns flying the aircraft maintained in part through an annual membership fee. Rafter said the club has been going strong for almost 20 years and is always looking for new members. It meets in the terminal building’s conference room at 7:30 a.m. the first Friday of every month.

“People are welcome to come watch our Spot Landing Contest that will be held (at) 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 25,” added Rafter. Aviation enthusiasts can bring a lawn chair and watch pilots test their runway landing skills. Afterwards, club members will be grilling hot dogs and hamburgers at a potluck barbecue.

Jack Swanton of Westport Island is club president, Rafter is vice president and Rick Mitterling serves as treasurer. Member Alex Poliacoff of Richmond is a certified flight instructor.

Learn more at www.flighttime.org