Tough, courageous men and women settled the North Country and the third and fourth decades of the twentieth century brought the most dramatic men and women of them all—the bush pilots. Even as bush pilots and their planes penetrated Alaska, their brothers penetrated Northern Canada. Link to another story “Marvel Crosson—Lady Bush Pilot” “Bush Pilot …
Category Archives: Bush Pilots
Sometimes Funny
Sometimes funny, the exploits of bush pilot Les Cook on the Alaska Highway Project make great stories. Most stories portray Les as a hero. Cook flew when no one else could or would. He and his plane saved lives. Cook’s plane brought food, mail, emergency equipment and doctors to places no other mode of transportation …
Marvel Crosson—Lady Bush Pilot
Marvel Crosson flew airplanes in Alaska before any other woman even thought about it—flew co-pilot with several of the most famous Alaska bush pilots then, in 1927 earned a commercial pilots license and could legally fly on her own. Thirteen-year-old Marvel, with her younger brother Joe, first saw an airplane fly at a state fair …
Entertainer
Entertainer Will Rogers made America laugh through the Great Depression—not easy. But his brush with Alaska left no one laughing. Rogers did radio shows, he appeared on other people’s radio shows. He wrote columns for newspapers. He appeared in movies. Sometimes he just made it up. But the consummate entertainer made people laugh. Almost as …
Mushy Spring Ice and Bush Pilot Bob Reeve
Mushy spring ice doth not a runway make. Famous Alaska bush pilot Bob Reeve found that out at Burwash. Willis and the surveyors were there. Link to another story “Stench and Reeve Airways” The Army occasionally hired Reeve to ferry personnel from place to place along the route of the Highway, and about two …
Continue reading “Mushy Spring Ice and Bush Pilot Bob Reeve”
Flying Over
Flying over the subarctic north? To those who endured difficult, dangerous, and often just plain miserable trips on the ground through that beautiful but hostile country, airplanes offered an attractive alternative. But, of course, mother nature in this part of the world makes nothing easy, including flying over it. Link to another story “Becoming a …
Edmonton and Wiley Post
Edmonton Canada began the home stretch of one-eyed aviator Wiley Post’s record setting round the world flight in 1931. And the Edmonton stop nearly put an end to it. Link to another story “Bush Pilots in Canada” He and his navigator had crossed England, Russia, Siberia, and Alaska. Edmonton, number 12 of 14 stops, seven …
True Masters of the Air
True masters of the air, bush pilots, flew in the subarctic north, and to do that they needed unique skills. Link to another story “Gillam Weather and a Legendary Bush Pilot” First, bush pilots needed to be true masters of the ground as well as the air. Suffering mechanical problems, needing to ground his plane, …
Stench and Reeve Airways
Stench? Bush Pilot Bob Reeve’s ingenious innovations made him a legend. They also made him and his planes stink. “Reeve had worked out a way that he could pee past the stick and out a hole in the floor. The whole damned plane smelled of dried piss.” (A former passenger quoted in Alaska’s Skyboys by …
Mushers fought Bush Pilots
Mushers fought Bush Pilots and lost. With their dog teams they made money delivering mail to isolated outposts in Alaska through the early years of the 20th Century. They became legendary heroes driving rescue missions. One famous relay of mushers saved Nome from Diptheria. Gillam Weather and a Legendary Bush Pilot But in the early …