Easton native trains over County in Canadian aircraft
HOULTON, Maine — Residents of Aroostook and Penobscot counties were delighted last week when an Easton native flew over the area in a Royal Canadian Air Force C-17 and did several “touch and go” maneuvers at local airports.
The plane, piloted by U.S. Air Force Maj. Matthew Osgood, who currently is an exchange pilot at Trenton Air Force Base in Ontario, Canada, touched down at airports in Presque Isle, Houlton and Bangor during training exercises on Thursday, April 21.
“The United States has a number of exchange programs with Canada, which I did not originally know about, but was lucky enough to participate in,” Osgood said Monday. “It really opened my eyes. We were doing some touch and go training missions, and since my father [Tom Osgood] works at Smith and Wesson in Houlton, it was great to stop at Houlton International Airport to see him. We then went on to Bangor and stopped and saw my sister.”
Osgood practiced several quick touch-down and takeoff procedures in Bangor and Houlton, where relatives were able to watch him, but he only landed the plane in Presque Isle, the sole place he was cleared to do so by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Osgood said he enjoyed flying over Aroostook County, because having grown up in Easton, he remembered living there when Loring Air Force Base in Limestone was at its peak.
“I remembered growing up and seeing all of the old bombers flying over the area,” he said on Monday. “So it was pretty surreal to suddenly be the pilot and be looking down over the potato fields. It was amazing.”
People on the ground were thrilled by the sight as well.
Jessica Michaud of Houlton said she saw the plane fly “quite low” over her home, which delighted her two sons, Garrett and Jason, ages 12 and 14.
“They both love anything that flies, so they were of course thrilled,” she said on Monday. “And then we saw some great pictures of it on Facebook, so that added to the excitement.”
Andrew Henderson of Fort Fairfield also said he enjoyed seeing the flyover.
“It was the perfect day for it,” he said. “The skies were almost cloudless, and there were a number of pictures of it online. It is not every day you see a plane that big fly over your home.”
