Bush Pilots of Alaska

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Think. Can I have one on the way and I don't. Have control of all the vehicles critical functions. T-minus 15 seconds. 11 10 9. We have a go for main engine start.

For the space shuttle thunders off the launch pad flying into space with hardly a note on the gate of the American public the space shuttle Endeavor on or towards the new millennium flight. The most complicated flying machine ever developed. Carry the hopes of humanity towards a common future. One of the shuttle's most recent mission has been to maintain the Hubble Space Telescope enabling us to look into space and back in time billions of years to when our universe was in its infancy. Just like that. But we need only look back at 18 years to find the infancy of aviation. From the very beginning of aviation. The planes were used for transporting people and cargo.

It was not long after the development of the airplane that there was one flying over Alaska's vast untamed land. People were fascinated by this new form of transportation. The takeoffs and landings were a spectacle not to be missed. Alaska and aviation was then as space is today. A new frontier. You might say Alaska and aviation grew together. Reaching out to all corners of this giant land the airplane and the pilots began replacing the dog team and my future as a way of transporting male people and cargo from village to village. Early miners in the quest for gold took advantage of the new form of transportation. The miners could reach the precious metal in places that would have been impractical by dog or foot. Numbering only a few at first. Most of the pilots were corn fed Midwesterners.

There are a few history books that chronicle the names of these early aviators and expression of the time Bush League was used to describe them. It meant second class second rate or something from the farm or the sticks but the people who knew them and flew with them. But the bush pilots were nothing less than heroes. They flew an airplane so flimsy it was amazing that they stayed aloft combining the airplane with guts and determination. The bush pilot kept the last of his aviation life line open. It wasn't long before the river bars and grass roots gave way to gravel runways and larger planes. Alaska's population was growing and with it the aviation industry. There continued to be demand for the small there in the less accessible towns and villages the small planes could easily be adapted to the varied environmental and weather conditions. Skis were added to the planes when the ground was covered with snow. It was a lot of

work keeping the airplanes operating in Alaska a seemingly endless winter. At 30 below zero it took hours just to warm up the engines enough to start. Just because you were up and running did not mean you were out of the book. Winter had its own lessons to teach these early aviators. Getting a few bangs and bruises along the way was part of. Catching a wheel in a crack in the ice on a seemingly frozen lake was bad enough. Getting it out and flying in was a project in itself. In the spring the ice thawed giving way to the bush pilots new runways the thousands of

rivers and lakes of Alaska. An airplane equipped with floats could take advantage of this once again. Pilots adapted the airplane to a new environment. A measure of the pilot's skill was his long jeopardy. Is he a good pilot someone would ask. And another pilot would respond well is still alive so it must be good. That was the way things were back then. The element of danger has always been associated with this part of flying in Alaska Bush country. This element of danger was like gasoline to fire fuel in the middle of the bush. 1. Why the Intrepid nature of these individuals was becoming legit. Becoming a good Bush. Well it took a lot of skill determination and good old American

ingenuity. Most all of it learned by trial and error. Aviation was in its infancy. The early Alaskan bush pilots were redefining aviation. At the same time Alaska aviators were redefining the usage of the small airplane. There was another group of people doing some redefining of their own. The military. And with the military came the paved runways and metal planes. A lot of the original bush pilots turned in their bush flying wings for the new airline wings. Large multi engine multi pilot metal planes were shrinking America even more. This marked the beginning of the end of the evolution of the small bush played an evolution that began with the Wright Brothers and ended with the long paved runways of modern America. Most of the lower 48 states no longer needed bush pilots and they began to go the way of the

bonds donors before them existing only in the stories passed on. Remarkably Alaska bush pilots and their planes have persisted. Only in Alaska. The pilots continued to redefine the limits of Bush aviation. Today's aviator of Alaska as adept in the planes whose technology has changed little over the past 40 years. Through wilderness Alaska has an abundance of such wild places. And the mode of transportation most used to gain access to this wilderness is still the airplane today as in the past it is the wilderness of Alaska that draws people to it. Wilderness areas that support the fish and end it is justly famous for Alaska's gold of the new millennium is

its wilderness area. And. You know. Alaska's wilderness and natural beauty if you will. The small plane aviation industry of Alaska 75 years ago. It's the same wilderness and beauty that fuels the aviation industry today. During Alaska's summer tourists and Lake who have been anchored by far the largest boat playing

bass in the world will have hundreds of takeoffs and landings a day. Most of the pilots in Alaska are private. That the pilots who use the small airplane as an RV like you or I would use a boat or a motor boat. Most of these private pilots accumulate less than 50 hours a year their flight time. There's no place in the world that has a concentration of small airplanes like Anchorage Alaska. Lake Cook is the El Faro airport of the floatplane world. When air taxi pilot operating from Lake Hood My grandfather came up in the early 30s and he flew up here my father flew here also and so I was kind of raised in a flying family around airplanes and currently the only female flying part 135 which is the air taxis are air carriers off like that. They do what they call 135 check and that they don't flies with you and so they check you out on every

aircraft you're going to fly to a six Beaver wheels floats because they're two different configurations. I. I think anybody that flies in Alaska Bush isn't really fly for money it's got to be for pleasure too. Anchorage Alaska is that the largest float plane privately plane base in the world. So aviation is not an unusual thing here a lot of people. Here. At last Carry Texas we have beavers to a Six's on floats and wheels and we have used my car and mainly because of the loads they can haul. They're just the ultimate bush plane especially the beaver. With over a 40 year heritage of bush flying service the beaver built by the Havilland aircraft

company of Canada is considered by most to be the world's best bush plane in its weight category. Originally designed as a float plane would be viewed as one of the few planes specifically built for Bush operation. The de Havilland beaver is made. The demands for such planes is very limited. With the last of them being made in the mid 60s it's not unusual to fly in Beavers 30 years old. When was the last time you drove in a car that was over 30 years old. Or flying I like to fly a lot of our rafters haul out a lot of people with all their gear and their rafts and everything and they're all excited and looking forward to their trip and you pick them up and they're exhilarated they've had just a wonderful trip. Just being outdoors they've enjoyed being away from the grind. So I think I enjoy that more actually than your every day tour. Even though when you first start out you think oh it's another tour enjoy it when you're born and you start seeing it you get all excited again and telling everybody about how wonderful the state is.

There can be upwards of 500 takeoffs and landings per day here at Lakewood Wendland may make six. On the average a pilot flying for one of the air taxi services on Lake could make it between 500 and 800 dollars per year fly. Most all the time. Is Bush time. I think a lot of the flying it's done in Alaska is Bush flying. There are so many places that are unapproved the strips are an approved landing in rivers. Lakes for bringing tourism it's grown a lot in Alaska so there's a lot of people who go out fishing and hunting and sightseeing in. The places you Lanham are and the unapproved areas. And. It takes you a little bit of time to get real profession in those aircraft. That's probably the most important thing especially when you're out of rivers and and type places. Knowing what you can and can't get away with was. Probably the most enjoyable flying I like to do it. Now by its extremely beautiful on the

mountain and when the airplane is like an extension of yourself and. You just kind of float between mountains and valleys and there's so much to see. It's just beautiful up there and that's probably my most favorite line there is in the mountains. When Dylan has checked out the fly many types of it her own plane the piper super model number eight originally built by Piper aircraft company is older than she is its original design dates back to the early four. Where there can be a real.

Challenge. Especially working in the fishery or even in the 135 operations that tourism type operations. But there are certain things you just learn. Not to push it and if you're out flying in Prince William Sound you learn to keep the coast always visible on one side of you and if you ever turn you get out over the water and turn back towards the land so you don't get yourself where you can't tell which is up and which is down. Alaska is a land of stunning beauty that makes flying a rare place. But with the pleasure comes the pain. Alaska weather is some of the most unpredictable weather on Earth. It's hard to believe that in this age of jet travel the bush plane of choice

is built with the technology of 50 years ago. Alaska has one of the few places in the world that can support a small industry that does nothing but rebuild these airplanes. Than Hollingsworth them Dans aircraft repair. Why so slow. Take your stronger tales built stronger. Nobody's been able to imagine really is the spirit is all right. Some are fairly old. We get planes because they wear out. They. Both wear out. There it wears out. They poke a lot of holes in it I. Just run it over sticks while they are inside the fuselage A. Lot of problems too. From the side out. Also we get all of we've got to stick a large fan. On the back of. Time takes its toll in the small way with the cost of a new airplane so people owners must have their own rooms taken

apart and rebuilt. You can rebuild our super government joining up one to two guys in our standards all of. This is for. A lot of. You know each week by over a thousand. With friends of steel to be covered in that he's old planes seem to be stuck in the time originally designed in the early forties as a train. The Piper Cub had a short military career during World War 2 in the Korean conflict. After the war the Cup became popular as a low cost utility. Today the cup is considered the finest plane in the world and will cost the Sky box quite a lot of money to rebuild listening to the average person does not work in Europe and can't afford it was dark you're a lawyer and as good. Just burning sample as far's this work will last part we have all of

California Oklahoma. They get MY nobody over there to help others whether you think I was a fascist quiet person as a hard cover. If. It is a lost art. They're not down with people that really know how to do this. As far as bush planes go. Mr Piper had close to a perfect design with a car. There's a niche The airplane has been that of a bush without the passed on skills. The craftsman and pilot to work on the cup would have long ago won the way of the dodo as did many other less successful aviation design. I would consider myself a bush pilot but I do landed. On the mountains and under Mars and I'm probably just every pilot. Guy that lands up on a plate. By the. Short three or four for sure. That's what I would classify aboard guy that you know. You can look at a spot.

And. Tell you what kind of story it is. You could land your kid. Just by experience by looking. Very. Little support about. What a bush pilot accumulates over 10000 hours to die. Most all of it flying the back country of Alaska. He's at a skill level that could be characterized as an artful pol clause is the quintessential example of a bush pilot flying since the age of 30. Paul is best for the really remote and rugged type of Bush line. You know I have a beard a hole in. People and. Supplies a lodging and supercup to use for the real remote. Stuff. Pioneering new places and. Exploring places. My father wanted me to be an airline pilot originally and so that was the way to go and the last time off and. Travel and everything.

But as far as flying act flying we do here has to be the finest in the world. It's never boring and I was never the same it's always something different whether you know if you're going to a place to begin before the weather is different the wind conditions are different it's always. Always different. Paul flies a very basic airplane one quite different from most small planes you see flying overhead all instruments and gauges are non electrical components. There are no lights on the plane. It has no batteries or wiring and the radio he uses is charged up nightly and velcro to the plane's instrument panel for the day. The airplane is controlled by a stick and rudder pedal is connected to the wires that lead to the outside flying surfaces the air frame and flying surfaces of the supercup have changed a little over 40 years. However large balloon tires stronger landing gear and disc brakes have been added allowing for rough off runway landings

because there's no battery and there can be no starter motor for the engine almost propaganda to start. By eliminating the electric Calder's reduce the overall. Leading by over 200 top. This enhances the plane's performance and allows him to do what is best. No. Not. What. You see here is the logic you might be really really nice weather and you get up and. Make it different or vice versa. You really don't really know until you stick your nose in the time picking up climbers and stuff on a mountain. You know. Might I might think that there's no chance. But I'll go up and take a peek at a lot of them. There's older. Openings and. They can get up and. Get into them. But Paul is known for a bubble as a mountain pad is his ability to land and take off the glaciers high in the mouth. He's unmatched in this unique form of flight. His background as a mountain

providing him the familiar mountainous terrain so necessary for this type of flight hours of flight time trial and error. Put Paul in the aviation class of his own. They have as much as 15000 hours of flying and is a Bush. But most of all in the money its. Relation is a real trick and rice with wheels because you don't have anything to judge the size of things that you're used to looking at like trees or building or. You know I guess rock and ice and you know rock that's big enough to wreck your airplane might not. Look that big to you which your eye sees. So judging judging how rough places are. This is a real skill. I have learned little tricks the. Colors of ice that tend to be smoother. Seems like. Stuff that's got more dirt on it tends to melt out more. You can. Hear.

Why a. Big percentage of playstyle and a pile of mountains that you it's one way and you're going to you're going to land that way and you're going to take off the other way. The choice is Tuesday. So and there's there's times when you go there and you can't land. Conditions are rights too much when you're. There. Yes. So. When I was 14 and I had a private pilot's license when I was 17. But I've been riding around the backseat of supercup with my dad since 4 I can remember. It For I learned everything you know basically from my dad and. Fortunate to be able to continue to fly with him now. 60 years old and I still. Go out every day together and. Our cooperation is. Family run the lodge

and. The entire businesses family and. Unique situation. From the very beginning of Alaska's settlement winter transportation relied on dogs and sleds. Winter supplies and mail to the remote villages and posts was delivered by dogs. By the end of one thousand twenty four airplanes had begun replacing the dogs in Alaska as the major form the x country transportation. The airplane and pilot was displacing the dog and musher. With the advent of the snow machine. It seemed like the end of dog racing as a means of winter transportation. However today there's a resurgence of mushing as a winter time activity not only here in Alaska but also in other parts of the country. The dog team in my shoe along with the small airplane and pilots. Are still here. If I'm there to cheer on the last working together now more than ever they provide the

recreational and travel needs people of them along with you. Today there's a growing trend in Alaska aviation E.coli to air taxis or business done tours more and more people come to Alaska to experience the natural beauty recreation opportunities. Former Olympian downhill skier Max Mauro this is this is remote at the end of the highway is remote by any any standard and we're 150 miles beyond the end of the highway. So this is this is his way out. This is this is a remote area without this airplane system here that these people. Would be here accessible to ninety nine point nine. Spring skiing on the wrangled say the last mile is to the ski but the north shore of a wife is to the surf. Or the Himalayas to the muck.

In the Wrangel mountains. You get to name the runs you make and ski peeps that have never been skiing. The only way you can get these magnificent mile is by plane or dog you could rock the snow would probably be melted before you go. You have the teaching of the Klaus father and son Paul and John. And they have the Beaver type aircraft. Which we see over here and there in the forefront and then they. They ferry it to a base camp an area where you begin to ski at whatever level you're going to do that day with the Beaver it carries about eight or 10 people. And then they bring in super cups of very high powered small aircraft land and pick off a very short distance. And with the skills of these. Let's. Take and take off and. Circle round to elevation and the way the

space is that you think is impossible and. They do it very comfortably and. You know. They're adequate if. There were. A very safe. Harbor. And the uphill because the guy was. Right. Most of today's remote lodges and bush pilots got their start as guides offices for the hunters and fishermen who came to Alaska. The ever growing eco tourism industry of today has more and more becoming the staple for the lodge owners and the air taxi services. Many of today's visitors are looking for the unspoiled natural beauty of Alaska and will go to great lengths to experience. They prefer skiing rather than mine. Paul spends his day flying skiers to the top of the month so they can ski. All the making trip after trip to the top of them up. In the mountains. Here the same lies mount. Well it's the highest

range in North America. And then they cook 20000 feet. Which is. A.. The dogs go on to meet with John was a bald spot to be on the plane ride

back to the line. In the early days of Bush flying a common practice among pilots was to make fly by supplied them. With bags of flour and an outhouse as a target of this bombing tradition is kept alive as a competition at the gold cannon airship. Every spring people come from all over Alaska to this airship dedicated to bush pilots and

their planes. They come to see the latest push aviation development design. All types of planes and pilots get involved with the air show. The air show climaxes with the store competition. S t o f meaning short takeoff and landing is the ability of a pilot and his plane to take off and land in the shortest possible just. Rooted in bush flying tradition. Today it's used to help define what Bush flying is a pilot's ability to land and take off in a short distance meant added territory that he could surface. There are some pilot to take this idea of short landing and take off to the extreme. Weight conscious they put on miniature tail wheels and for added lifts they installed vortex generators to the leading edge of the extended wings. This highly modified plane the suited well for this type of competition but is not practical for landing on the side of a mountain or on a glacier.

Unfairly storm is often used as the ultimate measure of a bush pilot skills although important school plays a small part of the overall development of the skill Bush plan. Notice how the pilot which the tail is highly modified claim to help folks get off the bra. These extreme measures pay off with a 30 foot taker and once Airbus can fly very slow. Regardless of how your plane flies when you landed and was land on the market or as close to it as possible and stop in the shortest possible distance with the highest score. One terrible and it almost seems like these airplanes do not want to land. A lot of these plans are working with the same players their owners fly to make themselves a

little. Irregular. The show is M. bush pilot us his plane is a slightly modified Super Cup. Here and shows how it's done. Extreme cross rail is needed to overcome the forces of prop an engine for. Mr Ellis comes in for his last drops his plane down on the bus. And jams the brakes for one of the shortest landings of the day. Ultimate Tooley lodge wrangled St. Elias National Park located one hundred twenty miles from the nearest road everything including the tractor John Claus uses to maintain the lodge had to be flown. John Claus has been flying Alaska back country for over 30 years. John talks about what it takes to become a successful bush pilot.

Well is there no real big secret. It just takes experience. And basically we're landing on places whether it's ice or gravel bars or tundra that you've never been before and you don't know just what the conditions and it takes some time to learn and if you walk over and can judge from the air what the lamb looks like whether you're gravel the size of the rock. You know. That's hard to learn from just flying over and you have to try it and so many times. At first you misjudge it. Rocks are really a lot larger than you thought it was a little deeper than you thought and the musket was a little softer. But the next time you'll have a little better idea and then the next time you get a better idea. And that's not something somebody can tell you about or you can read in a book you have

to learn it on your own. There are a certain number of Cardinal things that just can not make a mistake and one of the first things you learn when you're doing any kind of mountain. Climb. Or. Fly in. If you want to look at something in a valley you never start from the bottom of the valley and work your way out. You do just the opposite circle round. Keep plenty of elevation stuff that started top of the valley and then go down the valley and you know we've seen that we could right from where we're sitting here I can look at the quality of person lost their life. It was a very low time pilot and he did just the opposite. And once the airplane won't climb as fast as the valley one you're going to run into the ground. And what generally happens is people become aware that they're not going to be able to climb out of that. So then they make a turn and many times that

turns fatal their plane just spins in the valleys not too terribly steep and you just keep going straight ahead. You know you stand a real good chance of surviving. Paul Johnson is the embodiment of what he has described as a bush. Paul is a bush pilot in the truest sense of the word. John explains why his son Paul as he bought into the pilot he has he has in my opinion uncanny ability to. Judge the countryside just exactly. What you're talking about especially on glaciers. Many times they'll be a color variation maybe yes some rocks and then lie and some more rocks. And as you fly over that it just looks absolutely impossible. The rocks give the impression of a ditch or something.

But he spent so much time doing that and actually walking with him. Developed an ability to just do it and he really doesn't make any mistakes in. Doing. After several passes down the glacier Paul thinks he's found a place long enough and smooth enough to land. By setting the flaps. Paul slows the plane down and generates more lift in the wing. He will make his approach as slow as the plane will fly. At 10000 feet. Landing on a glacier on the side of a mountain. Planes landing speed will depend on wind conditions on the glacier. A landing that is in most cases one way. Once committed no turning back. Many of the irregularities of the ice that would have meant a disastrous landing. The planes of 30 years

cannot be absorbed by the large balloon tires. The low air pressure of the tires allows for off runway landings on very rough terrain terrain that would have been unthinkable to land on. But the early planes and smaller tires. And it's not uncommon to literally land with power and you literally glacier the small plane do you. Picking up climbers on the glacier Transporting dogs to the top of a mountain.

Or acting as a ski lift for skiers. These are just some of the chores of the Alaska bush pilot today. There's no other place in the world that a pilot can make a living. Flying people and supplies into the wilderness is they can do in Alaska to make a living flying this small plane. It's like no other occupation. The average income of most of these pilots is probably less than $50000 a year. That is of course if there are no mishaps that would result in major expenses a rebuild is what draws men to pursue venture occupation. Is it the allure of flight or the land they fly. Ultimately it's a lesson that will draws men and women to the pilots who live wilderness represents breed freedom to fly wherever their hearts say they must. Yeah and it's a lifestyle that we've got here in L.A. it's family family

run is like a ranch you know we don't. One of the most everything we make gets thrown back into the business. You know they're playing in the lodge so I don't really get rich but we have very. Rewarding life each day flying around I never get bored never get tired of it. I can't think of anything I'd rather do. The reason I'm working on these airplanes because I like to fly myself. That's what got me as far as I could discern that these airplanes are the best Bush airplanes in the world. Mr. Piper. And. Close to perfect size bars which people keep trying to build a place for me to do it. Every time I'm out there find it. You like that it's something that.

You just don't feel doing anything else. Until my family my night an airplane and not least knowing a guy doing something that I love in August 27 1994 when Dylan forever and her boyfriend Jeffrey Gustafson. Died in a plane crash and that people in mountains of Alaska. During severe turbulence. Without this airplane system here with these people. This would be you know accessible and right. On. Top. Clear round they make more landing. On the runway. We do on one. Like anything else you learn here. A.

Lot of. It may be the men and women who take off the bench or fly over the wilds of Alaska or trying to live the myth the bush pilots of long ago. Or could it be that they the true bush pilots of us. Are living living the adventures of the past all the stories told to the young the old you can only fly over the lifeboats of a life.