"Having never been in a helicopter but always dropping whatever I'm doing to watch them fly by, I received a one-hour flight as a Christmas gift. I reached out to Ed in late June, and he was very accommodating with scheduling our flight. We scheduled it for a week or two out. His communication and directions to the hangar were excellent. At the hangar, Ed was very friendly and answered every question I could throw at him. He gave a safety briefing, performed his preflight, and off we went. I didn't have a destination in mind, so I left it up to Ed to show me around. First things first: a water landing on the Androscoggin? Heck yeah!
Ed has an amphibious Schweizer 300C and touched down so softly it was like landing on a marshmallow. We floated for a few moments, then Ed powered up, and with a whoosh and some spray, off we went. It was an exhilarating feeling, much different from fixed-wing aircraft, which I am very familiar with. We flew southeast and made a large sweeping circle out to Casco Bay, up the coast, and then back to Auburn. Ed was gracious enough to provide me with some limited discovery flight experience while remaining PIC. I'm very thankful to him for helping me check two items off my bucket list. All the while, he pointed out landmarks and wildlife like seals and bald eagles.
Ed is highly involved in local marine and wildlife management. I'm pretty sure he knows the name and history of every island and navigable waterway in Casco Bay (maybe some unnavigable ones too). He is an excellent tour guide. I've lived here basically all my life, and he showed and taught me about places I didn't know existed. Take a flight and see what you're missing in your own backyard."
"It was fantastic!!! Like flying on the magic carpet. As a kid I would imagine how it would be to fly and SEE all the wonderful things. I would dream of flying...!
This flight was an event of a lifetime...for me...The number of Bald Eagles was great. One has to develop the vision of the white and dark conformation to see them quickly. The beauty of The Sands...one cannot comprehend with words...only sight...
I commented to Cindy that sightseeing by air would be something visitors might like. Her answer was that tourists like things more dramatic...volcanoes etc. But maybe on second thought, we need to keep these spots guarded and hidden from entrepreneurs and developers.
Best of wishes for future flying! The trip you provided for me of the Kennebec River and our farmstead was fantastic!! To see the land and place the history of two hundred + years ago was something I wish all could experience. Not just something in a movie or TV. To see the nooks and crannies that we cannot access by truck or boat is the greatest.
Thank you very much."
"Point of View Helicopter Services’ Schweizer 300C helicopter on amphibious floats provided incredible versatility and flexibility in accessing our PFAS sample sites, on the Androscoggin and Kennebec Rivers and in Merrymeeting Bay, whether wetlands or open water. This allowed us to achieve sample coverage of a huge geographic area from mid-coastal Maine in a remarkably short time - something that would have been impossible with traditional sampling methods.
Ed's local knowledge was critical to our mission success and efficiency. He knew exactly where to go and how to position the helicopter for optimal sampling conditions, which made our PFAS sediment and water testing work much more effective."
"What a wonderful time we had yesterday. Another truly memorable experience to cap our weekend. The photos are stunning. As soon as we got up in the air yesterday I regretted not bringing my camera, but then thought , maybe for a first time up it's good to just be collecting many, many mental pictures.
Mark was so thrilled that he and his kids got to experience such an event. He was also really blown away by your generousness to take us all up...
Thank you for all the memories, the gift of flight, and all you do regularly to keep Bowdoinham and Merrymeeting Bay the glorious haven it is."
"Point of View Helicopter Services combines quality, intimate aerial survey services and a passion for natural resource conservation. I have flown with Ed Friedman during inventories of nesting bald eagles and reproduction studies, monitoring of osprey nests, searches for great blue heron breeding colonies, radiotelemetry projects, research with tidal currents, monitoring conservation easements, and aerial photography. His enthusiasm for all subjects is contagious. The Schweizer 300C helicopter provides ideal maneuverability and airspeed that improve aerial reconnaissance. Maine's landscape is breathtaking from such a perspective!"
"It was very generous of you to let my brother Kai and I take a ride in your helicopter with you. I liked how you showed us all the switches and how you let us land on the water. The view was beautiful. I have always wanted to fly up into the sky like a bird and you gave me that chance. At first it was scary, but once you explained everything to us I felt more comfortable. You are very good at flying the helicopter.
THANK YOU!"
"I contracted with Point of View Helicopter Services to conduct an aerial survey of Bald Eagle nests throughout Casco Bay, Merrymeeting Bay and surrounding regions in mid-coastal Maine. Ed and his observer did a fantastic job surveying specific areas of interest while avoiding sensitive areas. They surveyed dozens of Bald Eagle nests throughout the study area in just a handful of hours and sent me the survey datasheet that evening. We get a lot of value for our money working with Point of View Helicopter Services given Ed’s familiarity with the species and his knowledge of the local area. Both of these were and are huge assets to working with Ed on any helicopter wildlife survey efforts."
"I want to send you a big Thanks for being so generous and kind to my brother, Jon. He is the most special person in my life, and I could not think of a more wonderful gift for his 60th birthday than sending him up into the sky to look down on beauty, and then return safely to the heart of our family. He had a great time, he tells me. Today I am heading over to his place to take a look at some of his 200 photos!"
"This is incredible Ed! [Responding to our Point of View Helicopter Services flush count of 340 bald eagles on the Sebasticook River, Maine where they aggregate for the river herring run]. Thank you so much for continuing this work and providing the updated data and email summaries."
"Thank you for giving my sister and I a ride in your helicopter. It was very generous considering the price of fuel these days. Also, thank you for devoting your time to fly us around and explain things to us.
The helicopter ride will probably be a once in a lifetime experience for me that I will never forget. It was an amazing time riding and landing in the Bay and flying next to an eagle.
Once again, thank you so much for everything you have done for us. All in all, it was a fun adrenaline filled ride. Thank you."
"Our lake organization, Friends of Sebago Lake, had the great fortune and honor to host the nations leading Great Lake's lake wetland scientist, Dr. Douglas Wilcox. The goal was to survey Sebago Lake's wetlands and initiate research to determine impacts of unnatural water level regulation on Sebago Lake's wetland ecosystem and water quality. Point of View Helicopter Services came to our rescue and worked with Dr. Wilcox to aerially photograph the many wetlands of this 47 square mile lake. POV Helicopter Services served as a vital catalyst in building our new understanding of the impacts of unnatural regulation on lake wetlands. The resulting photographs have been an invaluable assessment and educational tool."
"I apologize for sending this thank you so late. But we wanted to thank you with some local goods from the Oneonta area. The kids have not stopped talking about the ride in the helicopter. It was the highlight of their summer. I appreciate you taking me up and explaining the unique aspects of the waterways. It was a wonderful trip.
Again thanks! Be sure to look us up if ever you are in central New York."
“On our return flight we flew over the Great Sidney Bog, a six hundred acre raised bog created by the last ice-age. I took many photos of the Sidney Bog from the little "Bee".
It was then that I realized what a great platform the helicopter was for taking photos. The helicopter provides an opportunity to hover over any spot and be able to study an environmental problem or inspect bird nesting and wildlife areas.
Because of the photos that I took of the Sidney bog from Ed's helicopter, the Augusta City Council purchased one hundred acres of the bog to add to the hundred acres they already owned. Thanks to Point of View Helicopter Service and Ed's flying skills, the City of Augusta now owns two-hundred acres of the six hundred acre bog that has been set aside to be protected forever from peat mining and other encroachment by man.
I would recommend Ed Friedman's Point of View Helicopter Service for any environmental study or monitoring project.”
"I don't know how you would ever find anyone any more delighted with a helicopter ride than Ron was last Thursday! He enjoyed it so very much!
Thank you so much for your patience and help getting him in and out of the helicopter. All of his major joints are metal, plus the loss of a leg---so he has quite a time doing what he'd like to do.
Also---thanks for the pictures! You were more than generous in all you did for us.
Best of luck to you in your helicopter business."
"As a wildlife biologist and photo interpreter of 27 years, I, find it very efficient to use a helicopter in groundtruthing emergent aquatic vegetation as well as any other vegetation that has been interpreted on aerial photography. Ed Friedman, pilot for Point of View Helicopter Services, saved me considerable time with vegetation identification on Merrymeeting Bay."
"Thanks so much for the wonderful flight the crowd loved it. It was a secret and I really enjoy hearing the stories from the guests about when they figured it out. Nice picture.
We will be sending you a disk from the photographer when we get the pictures back. Thanks again."
"That is some crazy picture. I still can't believe you fly a helicopter and that you landed it on our beach! That was just incredibly surreal, through and through. The reality is sinking in, however, as I send you the check! It is in the mail today, by the way!
Thanks for everything, Ed. It was fun to see you, albeit "on the fly." (hysterical) Hopefully we can get together sometime when doggies aren't in cars waiting and we can relax!
We are home now and getting things under control before the busy-ness of the school year begins. The weather is just spectacular today! Hope you are enjoying it --"
