Written by Dispatcher Zach S
In honor of the beautiful weather and start of summer, for May’s Airport of the Month, let’s take a look at a great summer day trip opportunity: Bar Harbor! BHB is a great place to go for a quick summer outing. Located just outside of Acadia National Park, it’s just a quick drive in an FBO crew car or rental vehicle.
BHB is located 135 nm northeast of PSM, but to avoid flying over large amounts of water, it is recommended that you follow the coast up towards Belfast, Maine before heading east towards the airport.
Flying up the coast is truly one of the best things to do in aviation, and the New England coast should be on every pilot’s bucket list.
Hunter and I decided to go on another fun XC. This month, as you can see, it was up to Bar Harbor! As of when we made the trip in March, there was still some ice occupying the lakes and rivers of Southern Maine & that made for a gorgeous contrast against the land.
After passing the Belfast airport and starting a turn to the east, if it’s clear, you can be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of Mt. Katahdin over the Penobscot River! We picked an awesome day and it was cool being able to see both Mt. Washington and Mt. Katahdin along our route.
After making the turn to the east after Belfast, you also get a great view of Islesboro Island off of your right wing. They do have an airport on the island, so we may need to head there soon…
Prior to landing at the airport for fuel, we decided to do a lap around Mt. Desert Island, home of Acadia National Park. Words really can’t describe how pretty it was. Take a look at the photos attached below to see for yourself.
After a few loops and turns around the park, it was time to head into BHB for some fuel and a bathroom break. The staff at the FBO at BHB were incredibly friendly and professional. After only about 30 minutes on the ground we were back in the air and heading back home. Going back to PSM we followed the same route but in the reverse direction - it was smooth and all was good!
