Alaska bush pilot books.

[Cyclic Hotline]

In the last few weeks I have read some exceptional Alaska Bush Pilot books, which I am sure other's here at PPRuNe might enjoy. I am lucky enough to have a local library stocked with all these title's, so I'm not sure about their general availability.

All these books detail the early days of aviation in Alaska. One of the reason's that Aviation became such a pre-eminent means of transportation in Alaska, is the huge size of the state, coupled with a small and sparsely located population. The discovery of natural resouces, funded the need for the service, and the rest is history.

These books all detail very well, the early days of flying in Alaska, and the progression from open cockpit single engine aircraft operation in minus 60 degree weather, to the exact same kind of operations with later, more complex equipment. In the early days it appears that the month's flying programme wasn't completed until you had crashed at least once in the last 30 days !

Of course, these books detail (for the most part) the individuals that survived, a vast number did not, and there are few books about them, although in "The Flying North", it details the fate of the individuals concerned.

For the majority of operations described, these books should carry the warning "Warning, do not try this yourself!"

Winging It - Jack JeffordISBN 0-88240-371-0. Great book, felt like I had had a conversation with him, by the end of the book. Amazing flying and great tales.

The Flying North - Jean Potter SBN0-89174-018-X Perhaps the greatest book detailing the exploits of the Northern flyers. Jean came to Alaska and met and flew with the subjects of the book. Well written and thoroughly entertaining, the later copies update the outcome of the great individuals she met and studied.

Glacier Pilot - Beth Day ISBN 0-89174-009-0 The story of Bob Reeves, which could probably be subtitled, "how to make a living by means that no other would even consider". Landing into glacial mountain faces, walking home, developing your own IFR procedures for the Aleutian's. Amazing!

Mudhole Smith - Lone E. Janson ISBN 0-88240-139-4 How do you get a name like Mudhole? Another greatly entertaining story, from one of the early pioneers. Great creative flying and Alsaka stories.

If you read any of these books, the same names keep cropping up, and all these people new each other. Because of this, many of the stories inter-relate, perhaps making it an even better reading experience.

Hope you like them.

[PCav8or]

Thanks cyclic. Will be odering.

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Blue Skies & Happy Landings

[pigboat]

Great books CH. Read them all at one time or another, and still have the one by Potter. In a similar vein, there's "Bush Pilot With A Briefcase," the absolutely hilarious story of Grant McConachie and his efforts to start Canadian Pacific. Can't remember who wrote it, and it's probably out of print by now, but worth the effort to try and locate.
For anyone interested in Canadian aviation, the two volume set "Air Transport In Canada" by Larry Milberry, CanAv books, covers everything from the Silver Dart to the space station. It's a heavy sucker, over a thousand pages, and literally thousands of photos. Costs an arm and a leg, but worth every penny.

[Feret]

Another great read along the same vein is The Don Sheldon Story "Wager with the Wind" by James Greiner (ISBN 0-312-85337-8). It's the story of not only Don Seldon but of flying in AK's mountains, especially Mt McKinley.

[dusk2dawn]

Ah bushpilots - off to dreamland!

I've been using Amazon to get out-of-print books from the US but I think their shipping service is awfully expensive and slow. Wich bookstore/dealer do you guys use ?

[Rick O' Shea]

Some great reading from this list!!

[The flying gunman]

A bit late I know but there is a programm on National Geographic channel at 9.00pm for an hour dedicated to this subject,just going to watch it

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He who smiles when the sh** hits the fan has found someone else to blame!

[Hew Jampton]

I recommend 'Justin de Goutiere - pilot', a great book about bush flying in Northern Canada and Alaska; poignant because the author dictated this autobiography while he was in a terminal illness in the prime of life. Also published as 'The Pathless Way'.


[This message has been edited by Hew Jampton (edited 13 November 2000).]

[Cyclic Hotline]

Just finished reading another excellent book about Alaska flying.

Last of the Bush Pilots - by Harmon Helmericks.

This is a beautifully written book recounting the end of the Bush Pilot days and the transition to airline travel (DC-3, C-46) as the principle means of getting around the State.

That Bud Helmericks and his family were totally in love with Alaska, and everything related to it, is beyond doubt. There are not too many people who would relish living in a tent in the Arctic with a young child! The accounts of the means used for navigating and finding home, may surprise modern aviators. Likewise the idea of camping in your airplane for a couple of days, waiting for a storm to break.

Great stories about aviation and the life of the Alaskan Arctic. From the early days of scraping a living with an airplane, to the start of the Alaskan oil industry. Will a C-46 float after it goes through the ice on an inadvertent 6 month round trip to deliver freight?

Very enjoyable book celebrating everything about Alaska, airplanes, it's people and wildlife. One of my favourite parts is George Kisick out walking in the wilderness, after a hard winter were he he had been very sick.

"He stood in his old sealskin water boots and shirt sleeves, looking across the thousands of miles of awakening prairie. "I'm so glad I didn't die last winter," he said in compliment to the miracle of spring."

Captures a hard way of life, that has all but disappeared today. Hope you enjoy it.

[BJBATMAN]

Cyclic Hotline
What do you mean "the end of the bush pilot days"? Yes somethings have changed but I still know people still trying to find there way home or camping in their planes waiting for the wheather to break, either on a beach or in any of the tiny villages in western alaska. The biggest difference is instead of a DC3 or C46 there are alot of C-207s(The Sled) or Cessna Caravans. Many of the things that still happen today would still simply amaze your modern aviator. There is still a saying up here that still holds true, that when the weather is to bad to go IFR then go VFR.

[Cyclic Hotline]

The reference to the "end of the bush pilot days", is a reference to the title of the book and also to the end of the formal certification of pilots in Alaska as "Bush Pilots". This was the actual title utilised by the CAA for the certification of these operators, prior to the modern air carrier and air taxi certifications.

When I picked this book up, I thought that it was a reference by the author to himself as the last of the bush pilots, but he was simply referring to the transition from the essentially unregulated operations these operators performed. He describes the lives of the operators of this era, of which he himself was one, and the distinctive individuals who lived this life.

As regards the current operations in this part of the world, I am actually an operator, for outside of the helicopters to which my name refers, I operate a mixture of amphib and wheel planes in exactly this type of operation. Not only 206's on tundra tyres and floats, but also the Caravan. What we do in the course of our daily operations, the places we work out of, and the conditions we work in, would, as you so correctly state, amaze many modern aviators.

Bush aviation is alive and well in Alaska, but the FAA and NTSB are actively working toward reducing the accident rate for these types of operations in Alaska. There is no alternative to these operations, due to the size of the State, the limited infrastructure and the financial (market) constraints that limit the scale and scope of operations. Most notably at this time, is the current difficulty in accessing affordable insurance which may drive many smaller operators to the wall, or to strictly freight operations.

Co-incidentally, today on a flight out of Alaska, the 81 year old lady sitting next to me was a former CAA radio operator, who arrived in the State in 1941. She personally new many of the individuals whose lives are covered in some of the books above. Most notably Jack Jefford, whom she described as an exceptionally nice gentleman - just as he comes across in his book.

[DOC.400]

Hi Cyclic!

The book and pioneer I'd forgotten at Gatbash was of course Noel Wein. 'Pioneer Bush Pilot -the Story of Noel Wein' by Ira Harkey.
If anybody in UK wants to swap -let me know. real pilots book this-my heart was in my mouth many times and couldn't put the book down!!

[johnv]

Here's a couple of good ones-
Adventures of the Iditarod air force by Ted Mattson, it's true stories about the volunteer bush pilots for the dog sled race.
Another good one is Heroes of the Horizon by Gerry Bruder.