PORTLAND, Maine—Mainers will have their say Saturday on a proposal by the National Guard to expand low-level flight training over western Maine and part of New Hampshire.
The Massachusetts Air National Guard says it needs additional airspace for F-15 fighters to conduct low-level training for homeland defense over the 4,000-square-mile Condor Military Operation Area. F-16s from the Vermont National Guard also would use the expanded space.
The proposal calls doubling that amount area where the fighters are allowed to fly as low as 500 feet above the ground.
On Saturday, residents and others with a stake in the outcome will attend a public hearing at the University of Maine at Farmington. For his part, Maine Gov. John Baldacci opposes the plan.
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