Low-Level Training Flights Upset Maine

Dirk and Terri McKnight were putting the finishing touches on a 1 1/2-story home--dubbed “the mansion” by neighbors--overlooking 40 acres of forest with deer, moose, beaver and raccoons.

But this picture-perfect scene shattered when a military jet screeched into the valley, skimming above the trees, rattling the windows.

“All of a sudden it was, ‘Wham!’ ” said Dirk McKnight, a photographer. The jet was so low “you could count the rivets,” he said.

This is how the McKnights learned that, from time to time, they would be offered an aural preview of World War III; their dream house is in the middle of the Condor Military Operations Area, a 200-square-mile region where the military conducts training flights.

Their consternation may soon be widely shared.

The Air National Guard wants to expand the flights in six states from Maine to Pennsylvania to meet training requirements for newer, faster aircraft and to ease overused training areas in Upstate New York. And an effort to expand training areas would affect 24 states across the nation.

Many residents are fighting it. They say the flights could hurt tourism, damage their quality of life and lead to increased safety risks.

“Having jets so low doesn’t even compare to a pulp truck, a chain saw, even the firing of a gun. These things are loud. I can’t think of anything to equate them to,” said Traci Poland of Rumford.

In Maine, the Air National Guard wants to lower the level at which jets can fly above the ground from 7,000 feet--and 300 feet in three narrow routes--to 300 feet throughout the Condor area. It also wants to create a new “Great State of Maine” training area in northwestern Maine.

The Guard’s preferred plan would allow 1,032 training sorties a year in the Condor region and 312 in the new area, many of them at the new low level. There are now more than 2,000 training flights a year over the Condor region.

About 800 residents, most of them opposed to the proposed expansion, spoke at public meetings held over the last several months in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

A final environmental impact study on the proposal is awaited. A final recommendation on whether to go ahead with the plan will be issued 30 days after it is submitted, officials said.

Steve Wolf, a Guard spokesman from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, said the amended study was to reflect residents’ environmental and economic concerns. No flights will be allowed over areas that would suffer, he said.

“The last thing we want to do is disturb our neighbors. We want to be good neighbors and still do our training and there’s no reason why we can’t do both,” Wolf said.

But at public hearings, residents contended that pilots have often cheated, flying low outside the permitted areas.

“These jet jockeys have been abusive,” said Dick Corbin, chief executive officer of Forster Manufacturing in Wilton. “I’ve been mischievous in my life, but not with a multimillion-dollar piece of equipment.”

Responding to the complaints, the Guard has provided a toll-free telephone number that residents can call to complain about low-flying military aircraft.

The Guard contends that the program has been effective. Low-level flights over Maine were suspended temporarily because Navy jets flew low outside the designated areas six times in a four-month period, said Col. Joseph Riley, spokesman for the Air National Guard in New England.

But the new accountability for military pilots won’t erase the memories of residents like Poland. Low-level flights over her home have awakened her family, frightened her children and scattered her chickens. “The kids run in the house screaming and crying. I can’t blame them,” she said.

Many Maine residents view the expanded training flights as an unneeded luxury now that the Cold War has ended and the Soviet Union has disintegrated, said Corbin, a board member of the Western Mountains Alliance, which opposes the expanded flights.

Wolf and other Guard representatives have had a tough time trying to explain why they need more room to train.

With cuts in defense spending and active-duty forces, he said, the Guard is taking on more responsibility and getting newer equipment from the Air Force.

“Even though a lot of the perceived threats have diminished, that’s no reason to drop our guard or not maintain our vigilance. We’re being asked to do the same with less,” Wolf said.

The newer equipment requires more room for pilots to train because the old airspace allocations don’t meet the needs for the latest jets--F-16 Falcons, F-15 Eagles and F-18 Hornets, he said.

States like Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Upstate New York are attractive areas for training with the faster jets because of the varied terrain and low population in rural areas.

Wolf said that ultimately, airspace is a federal asset that must be used for training for the national defense.

“The country needs to train to be prepared. It’s as simple as that. I don’t know what all the hubbub is about,” said Rumford Town Manager John Madigan, a veteran. “As far as I’m concerned, they can put a target in my front yard. I’m proud to be an American.”

But others say it’s not a question of patriotism.

“We’re not being unpatriotic just because we don’t want to give them carte blanche to ruin our lives,” said state Rep. Ida Luther.