A classy grassy aerodrome

During our summer in Maine to escape the oppressive heat of Florida, my wife Joan and I spent our days checking out small flying services and backcountry grass airstrips.

And we found one “classy grassy aerodrome” one day in August called Griffin Field.

We entered the address into the car’s GPS and headed out. It turned out to be a very circuitous country route through some very rural areas made up of corn fields and dairy farms. Suddenly we found ourselves on Griffin Road and spotted a sign on a tree stating, “Airplanes for Sale.” We looked out the window to the right and there it was.

Griffin Field Airport (PG1) is a turf airfield in Levant, Maine. This little town is in Penobscot County, about eight miles southwest of Bangor International Airport (KBGR).

Paul Griffin, the airport owner, and his wife Mary live in a big old rambling farmhouse on Griffin Road, down hill from one end of a runway. His original weathered hangar with an old sign signifying “GRIFFIN FIELD” sits across the parking lot beside his house. It is filled with heavy equipment he uses to keep his airfield well groomed.

He has two more modern well-organized hangars nearby that house his two remaining airplanes. When he takes his planes out to fly, he has to taxi up a slight grade to reach the airport proper, which sits on sort of a green plateau.

Up the hill from his house are two newer hangars. One of them contains three planes and a helicopter. The other hangar is beside a new private residence. Wendell Sproul, the airport manager, owns the newest hangar on the field and mentioned that it is possible for others to purchase land adjacent to the airport as long as they are willing to build a hangar.

This airport has two well-groomed turf runways. The longest runway, 11/29, is 2,440 feet long and 175 feet wide. The other, 4/22, is 1,800 by 60 feet and has runway lights. The lights can be activated with five quick clicks of the microphone switch on 122.900 MHz, which is also the Unicom frequency for the airport.

When winter comes and the snow is on the ground, it is time to put the skis on your plane if you plan to fly here as they do not plow. 

Griffin Field is privately owned, but open to the public. If you decide to fly in, they warn you to watch out for deer on the runway as this is a rural area. There are woods surrounding the field, but they do not encroach on the runways too closely.

No fuel is available, but there are other airports close by where you can gas up.

Paul opened the airport in 1979, just a few years after he took up flying.

In the mid-1970s he was running a gas station in nearby Bangor when a man dropped in one day and asked if he could put up a sign advertising his flying service.

“I was looking for a hobby and thought flying would be a good idea,” Paul said. “The man said he would teach me to fly to solo for $700.”

Wow, if only you could do that today!

Paul earned his private pilot’s certificate, then bought 51 acres in his old neighborhood in Levant and built the airport. He said he was born and brought up about a mile away from the airfield’s location and has lived in this location ever since. 

Griffin Field is a good place to drop in for a short visit. Although they say the field is unattended, you may be lucky enough to say hello to Paul and Mary during your visit.