OLD ORCHARD BEACH – 

A local teenager with a love for planes has organized a spectacular event that will have about 30 planes landing on the beach on Sept. 30.

Chase Walker, now a 15-year-old sophomore at Old Orchard Beach High School, was one of four eighth graders in 2016 to represent Loranger Memorial School at a leadership school at Camp Kieve. One of the assignments at the camp was to come up with an action plan on how to give back to the community.

He came up with the idea of a fly in that would have planes land on the beach and celebrate the aviation history in Old Orchard Beach, where Charles Lindbergh made an unexpected stop on the beach in 1927 when the field he was scheduled to land at was fogged in. Having watched a news story about Make-A-Wish Foundation on television, he decided the proposed event would be a fundraiser for the organization.

With the help of his language arts teacher, Nikki MacDonald, he drafted a letter to pilots, and MacDonald introduced Chase to her sister, Sharri, president of local community group OOB365 to help guide him as she had organized many community events.

Chase met with town officials, and with the help of OOB365 and the Old Orchard Beach Historical Society and approval from the town and Department of Environmental Protection, Chase has put together Wings 4 Wishes.

More than 30 pilots from Maine, New Hampshire and New York will take off from the Biddeford Municipal Airport the morning of Sept. 30, with the goal of having all planes landed on the beach, north of The Pier, by around 11:15 a.m. Planes will start to leave the beach around 2:30. Tide charts were consulted and played a key factor in scheduling, said Chase.

All are invited to come on the beach and take a look at the planes and educational displays about the town’s aviation history and listen to a performance by the Downeasters Chorus. The event is free.

A professional photographer will be on hand at the event and event goers can purchase photos of themselves by their favorite plane with proceeds going to Make-A-Wish. A few pilots will also allow children to sit in their planes for professional photographs, with proceeds going to Make-A-Wish.

There will be a range of different planes, with some dating back to the 1920s through the 1940s.

One special item that will be on display in front of the Alouette Beach Resort is a 1930 sail glider on loan from Owl’s Head Transportation Museum. The glider was brought to Old Orchard Beach in 1930 by pilot John Domenjoz, who unsuccessfully tested the possibility of sail power for aircraft.

Chase said he’s met a lot of people and learned a lot throughout the planning.

“I’ve received a lot of positive feedback from this,” he said. And, not surprisingly, he has a personal love for planes. “I’m an aspiring commercial pilot,” he said.

Richard Pate of Biddeford, who will be flying in on Sept. 30 in his Kolb Finestar ultralight aircraft, said  he was impressed that a teenager had put so much work to put together such a unique event. 

“We felt kind of compelled to be a sponsor,” said Pate, who has donated $2,000 to the event.

In conjunction with the Wings 4 Wishes event, the Edith Belle Libby Memorial Library, 27 Staples St., currently has a display on Old Orchard Beach’s aviation history.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.