A Chance Encounter
On 27 February 2026, Tom and Alicia flew to Alton Bay under beautiful blue skies. It was their second landing at the only FAA-charted ice runway in the lower 48 states and their first time back since we went together in 2022.
As Tom waited to sign in at Alton Bay's FBO, what has to be the least-fixed fixed base operator ever conceived, a man approached Alicia and presented his card. Depicting an aerial photo of a Cessna Skyhawk, it read:
John Parolin Photography
Portraits | Landscapes Events
He explained that he had photographed their arrival and that he would be happy to share the photos if Tom and Alicia emailed him. When they did so, what came back were a set of high resolution digital photos worthy of framing.
 |
| One of John Parolin's excellent photos of Tom and Alicia's Petrie on final at Alton Bay. |
My flight to Alton Bay occurred on February 15th, but considering that it was the Winter Carnival, I wondered if John had been photographing arrivals that day, too. I sent him an email, explained how I obtained his contact information, described my airplane, and provided my arrival time to Alton Bay. A few hours later, my inbox swelled with these wonderful photographs of Warrior 481 on short final for Alton Bay.
 |
| Photo by John Parolin. |
 |
| Photo by John Parolin. |
 |
| Photo by John Parolin. |
 |
| Photo by John Parolin. |
 |
| Photo by John Parolin. |
 |
| Photo by John Parolin. |
Aside from cursing those tenacious exhaust stains on the belly, I was enchanted by these photos taken of my airplane from a perspective that I never get.
Thanks, John! Great work!
