A scenic flight over familiar territory

During the summer, my wife Joan and I vacation in Maine for a respite from the Florida heat and humidity.

During these vacations to my home state, Joan and I are always looking for something fun and a bit adventurous. So it was on a sunny summer day in late June 2024 that we happened upon Scenic Flights of Acadia based at Hancock County-Bar Harbor Airport (KBHB) in Trenton, Maine.

There was nary a cloud in the sky and it looked like an ideal day for a flight to see the nearby Mount Desert island, Acadia National Park, and the various harbors and lighthouses that make this part of the Maine Coast so popular.

I grew up in Maine and lived close enough to Acadia National Park to be quite familiar with the area.

Later in life I owned a sailboat kept at Bucks Harbor in Brooksville, so I had sailed into many of the harbors in this area over the years.

I thought it would be a unique experience for us to see the area I knew so well from the land and sea from the air.

We pulled off the highway and into the parking lot of Scenic Flights of Acadia with great expectations.

Knowing they had become very popular and busy over several years, I was concerned that maybe we would have to make a reservation and would have to come back another day. But they were very accommodating and said if we could wait a few minutes, they could fly us in one of their Cessna 172s. Other planes in their fleet include a Cessna 206 and a vintage Waco biplane.

Their pilots are all instrument rated with commercial ratings and many hours of flight time.

Our pilot and guide for the flight was Hy Adelman, a man who also grew up in this area, so he had a good knowledge of the important things to point out during the flight. We could easily converse back and forth over the intercom with our headsets.

We flew over and around Mount Desert Island, as far down east as the Schoodic Peninsula, around Cadillac Mountain and west to Blue Hill Bay. Our altitude was about 1,000 feet so we were able to make out harbors and points of interest very easily.

Joan and I enjoyed our 50-minute flight over this familiar area and all our expectations were met.

If you are ever in this part of Maine, do yourself a favor and take some time to see the area by air.

For more information: ScenicFlightsOfAcadia.com or 207-667-6527.