Photo Phriday 129 - Airplanes

I spent 13 years in a bush village in western interior Alaska. No roads coming in. I didn't own a highway vehicle. I had an airplane, a boat, a snowmachine, and a 4-wheeler. No need for a truck. Airplane was used like a truck. I worked in an airplane and recreated in an airplane. I was a bit of an elitist; I thought SuperCubs (Piper PA-18) were the only plane worth having, especially for trapping.

Just returned from a successful trap checking, with a wolverine, a beaver, and a red fox.



Deep snow was a constant hassle. Many times, I had to snowshoe a strip to allow take-off.



A little marten peeks out from behind a tree, with airplane in back.



I collected hundreds of marten carcasses from trappers in the area, in order to monitor the harvest. This (N41PX) was my "work plane" that belonged to the state Fish and Game. I used it mainly for flying surveys for moose, bison, caribou, furbearers, wolves, bears, and Dall sheep.



Hope you liked this week's photo phriday selection.

Jack

Very cool. Super cubs are iconic in Alaska. You were living the good life!

Thanks, Bernie. I would wholeheartedly agree; it would be difficult to make life any better!

There is nothing in this universe like flight, is there, Jack ... I miss it every day.

I grew up in planes with my father. In his souped up crop dusters, too. And in flying the DC3 , supplies to the British West Indies in summer with him. When he taught me to fly this beast at 16 years old. I loved it all.

Traveling in rugged mountains, by foot, horse, snow machine , or truck, is one thing, but seeing the dimensions with an eagle's eye in flight is a realm of its own. The only way, in my opinion, to enjoy the Himalayas in all their glory. The most rugged, tallest ranges on earth.

The only thing to make that even better, is to have someone who really sees the views in multidimensional appreciation , to share it all with . Not only normal viewers who always say how beautiful the ranges are, but who can go the distance in depth of expressions , who can feel the land in shapes , colours and angles.

I am so glad that you have had the chance of enjoying the land from the air, Jack. You of all people , appreciate the details.

Here's my classic shot to share of my father , quite at home in his Pitts.

Since my childhood aircraft in all shapes and sizes have been fascinating. I find floatplanes, the cub, beaver, and otter to be sort of magical machines. The cub for what it is, the beaver being the “pickup truck”, and the otter for the amazing cargo capacity combined with amazing capabilities to get into tight places. The turbine variants of the beaver and otter continue their legacy.
I consider myself fortunate to have the opportunity to ride along in a cub now and then, when the pilot wants me there. The De Havilland aircraft are chartered for hunts and other fly-ins where a bit of backbone is needed. And then there is the Grumman Goose. It used to be a mainstay here in SEAK and I have been on a few flights on one out of Dillingham in the past few years.
The Twin Beech on floats that used to operate out of Juneau comes to mind as a memorable aircraft that we hauled in and out of camp a few times.

When I left Rootok Island we went to Tangik Island. After about two weeks we skiffed over to Akutan and caught a G-21 Grumman Goose to Dutch Harbor. It landed on the water at Akutan and runway at Dutch. These pictures are not ones I took. But I am willing to bet it was the same plane. It seems like I read they retired the plane.

That Goose has been wrecked a couple times ....1979 & 2004 ...but is currently owned by Freshwater Adventures in Dillingham, Ak. Might still be flying as the certificate is good through 2025 and IF Freshwater is still in business

Retired maybe was a bad word to use. I am thinking I heard it was not flying into Akutan any more. When I was on Akutan they were talking about building a runway on Akun. It is only about a mile from one island to the other and would be the closest place they could put in a runway. Akun has a large flat place they could put it. I do not know if they did that or if it is all boat traffic out of Akutan now.

Maybe it's just on sabbatical leave.

It's surprising how many planes up here are older than their pilots. I suspect Gulo can comment on that as well.

My good buddy that died a year ago was born in 1939 and his plane was built in 1940.


Once a week we get freight here delivered in a Curtis-Wright C46 built in 1940 that also saw service "flying the Hump" in Burma during WW2 and another 10 years in Japan after the war. Once in a while they will use a DC-6 built in 1946

I just did a search for flights into Akutan and here is what it says. "For regularly scheduled air service to Akutan you will need to book two separate flights. Grant Aviation provides service between Dutch Harbor and Akutan Airport, located on Akun Island six miles away from Akutan Island. Maritime Helicopters provides the service between Akun (Akutan Airport) to Akutan."

Sounds Expensive !

Always enjoy going to the Royal Aviation Museum at the Winnipeg Int airport. The Richardson family was what started now Air Canada as bush planes and did the first Air Mail service. They operated out of the Brandon docks across the river from where I have lived. Those 5 am fully loaded Goose taking off gets you up to the bed room window pdquick to see if it was going to circle over you.
It is worth a short walk over to it and at least 3 hour walk through.
Many of the tour operators are retired pilots and sure want to swap story for story if you have a chance. Email ahead of your visit and ask who will be on that you have a history of flying to be matched.

I'm always saddened to see those old workhorses (such as PenAir's Goose) being put out to pasture. End of an era, and there'll never be any more like 'em. I remember an old Gruman G-44 Widgeon going by the wayside in Glennallen several decades ago. My first Piper PA-18 was a brand new one, built in 1959. It was younger than me!

Here is an interesting read about the first air mail flights in Alaska. Carl Ben Eielson flying from Fairbanks to McGrath.
Somewhere here in town I have seen photos of him standing by the plane that day here on the "runway" which was the river at that time.

I think the mail today takes longer than it did a hundred years ago in 1924. Eielson also talks about his clothes. Marten hat and caribou sox

https://eaavintage.org/outstanding-flights-alaska/

I was glad I got to fly on the Goose. I knew it would not last much longer when they were talking about a building runway on Akun. I have flown on all different planes. C-130, C-141, C-5, KC135 plus all sort of commercial planes. I flew around AK in a 180 that a friend owned. I flew in a Beaver in MT. The Goose was the one that sticks out in my mind. I was awarded a flight on a F-15 when I was at Galena. I like the 180 more than the F-15. You are moving to fast to see much.

Ugashik get together.

Super Cubs are a great plane. I made my living with one for 30 years

Back in my Kodiak days I got to fly in Steve Harvey’s Widgeon a few times. Smaller version of the Goose. Pretty cool. Land in the water, drop the wheels and power up onto the beach

The Goose came right up what looked like a cement boat ramp at Akutan. There was a small pad on top and he spun around and shut it off. Unloaded some mail, loaded some mail and four of us got on and he taxied down the ramp back into the water. Steve Ebbert was along and he ask if he could sit in the co-pilot seat and take pictures. The pilot let him.

Some great airplane pictures, guys. Thanks for contributuing. Waggler, that 'Cub in the back is beautiful.

Jack

I flew with Freshwater out of Dillingham in that goose last in 2023. It is pictured in my previous post to this thread.

Here are my first 2 planes. The red one was a 7eca. Caught a lot of fur with that plane from 87-91. The other was a 7gcbc. Took me places I couldn’t get with the eca. Was never fond of cubs. Hard to get in and out of. Spendy plane to purchase and operate. Hopefully I can find some more pics.

I was always looking for ways to make money with the plane. Here is the GCBC with some Xmas trees on the struts. The inside was packed full of small spruce. I was living in Nome. Had to fly about an hour east of Nome to where I could get trees. Sold trees for 50 bucks a piece. Did this twice on 2 different Xmas seasons. The one wing is white as that was the last part of the plane I had yet to rebuild/recover. This was around 1994.

The 2nd photo is a rescue I happened upon when out joy riding. Gulo, hope you see this pic. You probably don't recognize the plane but likely you knew the owner. Jim Dau of Kotz F&G. He was moose hunting west of Deering and made a mistake. I landed and helped with getting it right side up!!

Here's another type of making money. Beach combing. Usually for walrus heads with Ivory. My buddies Tcraft and my GCBC. Somewhere west of Nome. I had to play with the color to get this postable.

This is north of Nome. Out sight seeing and looking for bear sign. Around 1994 maybe. Before I began rebuilding the plane.

Granite Mountain Dew line sight. North of the village of Koyuk. Good runway there and sometimes good caribou hunting. You can see the giant antennas on top of the hill. Dew line was a communication network to get information from the Alaska coast to the lower 48. Cold war stuff. All these places have been taken down now I think, except for Nome. City of Nome wanted them to stay for historic reasons.

Just to show my flying career hasn't been without problems........................the GCBC on the ice at Koyuk after I made a dumb move. Took the right gear off. Got another gear and got it on a few days later and ferried back to Nome. Along with repairing the fuselage I had to rebuild the right wing. This airplane, 53817, now resides in South Dakota.

martentrapper -

Dau and I worked together for a short time in Glennallen. Good egg!

You got some real fine photos! Thanks for posting! That's a real fine paint job on the GCBC.

Jack

This is one of the boss mans toys!