Flying the Alaska Wild

Flying the Alaska Wild
Author: Mort D. Mason
Publisher: Voyageur Press (MN)
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2002
Genre: Alaska
ISBN: 9780896585898

Imagine flying through wildly unpredictable weather conditions and over the unforgiving terrain of the Big Empty, with only yourself to rely on in life and death situations. This type of true grit adventure was a common occurrence for Alaska bush pilot Mort Mason, who encountered numerous white-knuckle situations while honing his skill--and his luck--in a profession that only a handful of pilots have had the stamina to endure. Flying the Alaska Wild is a heart-pounding, edge-of-the-chair collection of fascinating stories about the rough-and-tumble life of an Alaska bush pilot--straight from the pilot’s seat. Recounting thirty years of adventures, skilled storyteller Mason presents tales of his own experiences, and also tells the legendary stories of other old-time bush pilots.

The Alaska Bush Pilot Chronicles

The Alaska Bush Pilot Chronicles
Author: Mort Mason
Publisher: Voyageur Press
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2010-11-10
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 1616731419

Readers of Flying the Alaska Wild marveled at Mort Mason’s true tales of braving the elements at the extremes in a Piper Super Cub. But the bush pilot, adventurer, and raconteur was just beginning, and in this book he revisits his most memorable moments of flying by the seat of his pants through blizzards and white-outs, on assignments at times hazardous and sometimes simply whacky, always with a sense of humor and due respect for the limitless wilds of Alaska beneath his wings. The world of a bush pilot really is the final frontier, and for thirty years Mort Mason was there, clocking enough heart-stopping miles to make most life-stories utterly incredible. In The Alaska Bush Pilot Chronicles Mason recounts more of his unlikely adventures in the face of Alaska’s unforgiving weather and terrain. His stories gives readers the rare chance to experience the disappearing thrills and challenges of meeting the American frontier on its own unyielding terms.

Arctic Bush Pilot

Arctic Bush Pilot
Author: James Anderson
Publisher: Epicenter Press
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2000
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780945397830

Backed by Wien Airlines, former Navy combat pilot "Andy" Anderson pioneered post-World War II bush service to Alaska's vast Koyokuk River region serving miners, Natives, sportsmen, geologists, adventurers, and assorted bush rats. He flew mining equipment, gold, live wolves and sled dogs, you name it -- anything needed for life in the bush. He sweated out dozens of dangerous medical-emergency flights, "always at night and in terrible storms." Illustrated with 50 historical photos and co-authored by one of Alaska's most popular writers, ARCTIC BUSH PILOT is an exciting and sometimes nostalgic account of a pioneer pilot and his special place in Alaska aviation history.

Bush Pilot Way

Bush Pilot Way
Author: Bill Quirk
Publisher: Publication Consultants
Total Pages: 234
Release: 2014-01-04
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1594333823

Color-illustrated, Bush Pilot Way, focuses on flying small taildragger aircraft and landing them in remote and challenging terrain in wild Alaska. It presents the author's explanation of his aviation journey in Alaska. The journey displays the inspiration of flying in Alaska, defining who are Alaska's modern-day bush pilots, and showing the training necessary to become the best pilot you can be. It also presents the causes for the elevated aircraft accident rate in Alaska and how to avoid such incidences. Bush Pilot Way serves as a primer for training the Alaska bush pilot way. Once a pilot learns how to train according to the book, additional or new training can be carried out, without difficulty, because the pilot has already learned the foundation for training. Bush Pilot Way is a classical training manual because it is written in a contemporary style that is always current. As time goes forward, the strategy for training will remain the same. Fifty-two distinctive narratives comprising the appendix, show general aviation topics and authenticated experiences of a skilled pilot flying Alaska's uninhabited backcountry. The narratives include the inspiration of flying Alaska's coastal mountains, glaciers, and fjords; flying and landing in Alaska's backcountry in winter on skis and in summer on Bushwheels; flying wildlife surveys and observing rare wildlife encounters.

Sam O. White, Alaskan

Sam O. White, Alaskan
Author: Jim Rearden
Publisher: Graphic Arts Books
Total Pages: 401
Release: 2014-04-04
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0882409344

"This was an excellent book about a true pioneer! A very interesting story about the life of an amazing man. Sam was generous, courageous, and a friend to everyone who had the privilege of knowing him." Sam O. White was a tough, deep-voiced, six-foot-tall, two-hundred-pound former Maine lumberjack and guide. From 1922, for half a century he crisscrossed wild Alaska by foot, with packhorses, dog teams, canoe, riverboat, and airplane. He helped map the Territory, trap fur, and became the world’s first flying game warden. White wrote exciting tales about his Alaska adventures, and those writings make up the bulk of this volume. In 1927, he arrived at Fort Yukon as a game warden when millions of dollars worth of fine arctic furs annually arrived there. The hardy frontier trappers considered the new game warden a joke, but he quickly taught them to respect conservation laws. He was frustrated by the impossibility of adequately patrolling thousands of square miles by dog team, boat, and on foot, so with his own money, he bought an airplane. Pioneer pilots Noel and Ralph Wien taught him how to fly it. White then startled remote trappers and others by suddenly arriving from the sky. In 1941, lack of backing from Juneau headquarters caused him to resign as a wildlife agent. At Fairbanks, Noel Wien made him Chief Pilot for Wien Airlines. For the next two decades White flew as an Alaskan bush pilot, admired for his flying skill and the superior service he provided residents who flew with him, and who depended upon him for receiving mail and supplies. He had countless friends—one hundred arrived for his seventieth birthday party. His integrity and principles were of the highest. Decades after his death, he is still spoken of with awe by the long-time Alaskans.

Map of My Dead Pilots

Map of My Dead Pilots
Author: Colleen Mondor
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 259
Release: 2013-04-02
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0762775831

The Map of My Dead Pilots is about flying, pilots, and Alaska, the beautiful and deadly Last Frontier. Author Colleen Mondor spent four years running dispatch operations for a Fairbanks-based commuter and charter airline, and she knows all too well the gap between the romance and reality of small plane piloting in the wildest territory of the United States. From overloaded aircraft to wings covered in ice, from flying sled dogs and dead bodies, piloting in Alaska is about living hard and working even harder. What Mondor witnessed day to day would make anyone’s hair stand on end. Ultimately, it is the pilots themselves—laced with ice and whiskey, death and camaraderie, silence and engine roar—and their harrowing tales who capture her imagination. In fine detail, this series of stories reveals the technical side of flying, the history of Alaskan aviation, and a world that demands a close communion with extreme physical danger and emotional toughness.

Flying Alaska Gold

Flying Alaska Gold
Author: David Hoerner
Publisher: Booksurge Publishing
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2004-12-15
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9781419603914

This book is a recollection of the authors experiences in Alaska. It details his hair raising and near death flying experiences. The trials and tribulations of gold mining, and the greed associated with it. A connection with the Mafia. An accelerated learning curve flying supplies to other miners. The support of family at home in Montana and at the mine.

Alaska's Bush Pilots

Alaska's Bush Pilots
Author: Rob Stapleton with the Alaska Aviation Museum
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 128
Release: 2014
Genre: History
ISBN: 1467131830

A thrilling ride alongside the daredevil aviators who first braved the unknown of Alaska's wilderness. Bush pilots are known as rough, tough, resourceful people who fly their aircraft into tight spots in the worst of weather. Alaska's bush pilots are all of that and more. Acting as pioneers in a land with 43,000 miles of coastline and North America's largest mountains, Alaska's bush pilots were and are visionaries of a lifestyle of freedom. Flying came late to Alaska but caught on quickly. The first flight was made over a three-day exhibition at Fairbanks, July 3-5, 1913. James Martin first flew that aircraft, owned by him and his wife, Lilly, and investors Arthur Williams and R.S. McDonald. Ever since, Alaskan bush pilots have found that they were calculators of their own fate, flying in fragile aircraft over vast stretches of tundra or through towering mountain passes. This book examines the pioneer aviators and the aircraft types such as the Stearman, Stinson, and Lockheed, many of which were tested and crashed in the far north regions of Alaska.

Flight of Gold

Flight of Gold
Author: Kevin McGregor
Publisher: In-Depth Editions, LLC
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2013
Genre: Aircraft accidents
ISBN: 9780988977242

On March 12, 1948, Northwest Airlines Flight 4422, a DC-4 with a crew of six, carrying twenty-four merchant marines from Shanghai to New York, crashed high up on Alaska's Mt. Sanford. Air reconnaissance flights spotted the remains of the plane, but the site was too remote for recovery teams. Rumors that the plane had been transporting gold and diamonds enticed treasure hunters to the mountain, but life threatening conditions kept them from reaching "Alaska's Legendary Gold Wreck." Flight of Gold is the first-person account of commercial airline pilot and mountain climber Kevin McGregor, who with pilot Marc Millican, attempted to solve the mystery of the reputed treasure. After four years of near-obsessive efforts, they made two startling discoveries: One led them into leading-edge forensics and the other gave substance to the treasure rumor.

Cowboys of the Sky

Cowboys of the Sky
Author: Steve Levi
Publisher: Publication Consultants
Total Pages: 136
Release: 2008-04-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 159433286X

For more than 80 years, bush pilots have carried supplies, delivered mail, and transported emergency personnel over Alaska's rugged terrain. They've flown with felons handcuffed to the seat, with corpses strapped to the wing, and with drugged polar bears sleeping in the cargo compartment. Ever since aviation came to Alaska planes have been far more important than cars or truck to the residents of the far-flung bush communities. In Cowboys of the Sky: The Story of Alaska's Bush Pilots, humorist and historian Steven C. Levi takes you on a wild ride through the heyday of aviation in Alaska, from the golden years, before federal regulations curbed the more dangerous and outlandish flying practices, all the way to the present. Through photographs and anecdotes, you'll meet brave and colorful pilots, the true cowboys of the sky who carved the face of America's Last Frontier.