I have recently learned that the Otis Air National Guard, based on Cape Cod, Mass., is considering the possibility of conducting training flights in the Condor 1 and 2 areas of western Maine, including Rumford, Kingfield, and Rangeley.

Of course, these exercises are necessary to maintain effective defenses at home and abroad, but I believe a less populated area would be more appropriate for such training.

Last week, military planes conducted training exercises over the Farmington/Rumford area. The high noise levels have resulted in complaints from area farmers, who have indicated that these exercises caused horses, cows and sheep distress and fright.

Some have said, as the April 1 edition of the Lewiston Sun Journal has, that the planes involved in these exercises, flying as low as 500 feet from the ground, are no louder than a vacuum cleaner or car engine. Anybody who has attended an air show can surely report otherwise.

I don’t believe that low-level flight training exercises in western Maine is necessary. There are plenty of large regions in northern and eastern Maine in which trees are the only inhabitants. Perhaps these areas, where no Mainer would be inconvenienced, would be more appropriate and logical.

Sen. Walter Gooley, Farmington

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