Alaska News

Alaska Aviation in the 1950s comes alive in 'Arctic Bush Pilot'

While a lot of attention deservedly goes to the pilots who first developed Alaska's aviation industry, less is known about those who thrived in the post-war era. In the 1950s and 1960s the fledgling air carriers that had struggled for decades truly began to soar and at the front of the pack was the territory's oldest airline, (the second in the U.S.), Wien Air Alaska.

In 1948 pilot James "Andy" Anderson was hired by Wien to establish and operate the company's Bettles base. A World War II Navy veteran, Anderson had arrived in the small village a year prior to work for the Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA). Over the next 20 years he flew all over Interior Alaska for Wien and also built and operated the company's roadhouse, the present-day Bettles Lodge.

Anderson accumulated 32,000 hours by the time he left Alaska. Thirty years later he told his story to writer Jim Rearden, who had flown with Anderson many times. The result is "Arctic Bush Pilot," a fascinating look at mid-century commercial flying in Alaska.

With over 50 photographs to illustrate his experiences, "Arctic Bush Pilot" takes readers from Anderson's military years flying the Curtiss Helldiver to his employment as a radio operator with the CAA in Bettles where he first met Sig Wien. His recollections of flying for Wien Air include multiple aircraft such as the Cessna 180, Republic Seabee Amphibian and a military surplus Noorduyn Norseman from Canada. He also details his close relationship with the company, especially Sig Wien and how he came to be one of the largest stockholders in Wien by the time he left.

For modern pilots, "Arctic Bush Pilot" will likely be appealing because so many of the situations Anderson describes are remarkably similar to their own. Consider this excerpt on the subject of pressure:

The aerial mail routes I established in the Koyukuk Valley were flown with no radio or navigation aids. Weather was often lousy. Regardless, after a time the villagers not only expected, but demanded, that mail be delivered as scheduled and on time.

Sometimes weather was bad at Bettles Field at the same time it was good at one or more of my stops. Often villagers weren't aware of this and scolded me when I missed a mail run due to bad weather they didn't experience. I had to be careful to not allow this pressure to push me into unsafe flying.

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One of the more gripping episodes Anderson recalls is an emergency flight in 1955 for Sydney Huntington, who had a splinter embedded in his right eye and was suffering tremendous pain. After waiting through steadily decreasing temperatures, Anderson finally chose to depart for Huslia at 60 below. He first flew Huntington to the small hospital in Tanana where the doctor determined he could not be adequately treated and must go onto Fairbanks. The temperature there was 52 below zero and ice fog, which still shuts down the airport every winter, cloaked the city. Anderson recalled:

As we neared the town I could see it was mostly obscured by dense ice fog. I dropped to 1,000 feet, used flaps, and crawled along at about a hundred miles an hour, following the railroad tracks toward the airport as visibility decreased.

I called the control tower. They were expecting me, having been informed by the CAA of my medivac [sic] flight. Visibility was down to a few hundred yards when I landed at Fairbanks International Airport.

Huntington was immediately transported to the hospital and the splinter removed. Six months later, after suffering continuous pain, the injured eye was replaced with a glass one. When "Arctic Bush Pilot" was published, he credited Anderson with saving his life.

There are many stories of flying in bad weather or carrying awkward loads in "Arctic Bush Pilot" as well as insight into the burgeoning Wien operation. Anderson writes of the company building landing fields at Venetie, Kobuk, Arctic Village and Anaktuvuk Pass and establishing a radio network throughout the Interior. He recalls being stuck in Anaktuvuk until local residents used caribou fat to patch a hole in a torn wing float and serving as the only lifeline for miners in the remote Chandalar country. At times humorous and witty and at others wistful and nostalgic, Anderson's reminiscences always show a deep affection for the people he worked with and flew.

But what comes through strongest from "Arctic Bush Pilot" is that once upon a time, in a place where the maps were still being drawn, Andy Anderson considered himself lucky to be part of the Alaska story. His contribution to the state's aviation history is undeniable to anyone who uses the airports he developed or frequents the many villages that depended upon his single aircraft for air service. Most importantly though, he took the time to share his experiences with Rearden and together they produced a thoroughly engaging and highly readable book.

"Arctic Bush Pilot" is available at libraries and bookstores across Alaska. It can also be ordered online from numerous booksellers. Learn more at the publisher's website.

Colleen Mondor is a former dispatcher for a Fairbanks-based air carrier. Her book, The Map Of My Dead Pilots: The Dangerous Game of Flying in Alaska, details her years working in the Alaska aviation industry. You can contact her at colleen(at)alaskadispatch.com.

Colleen Mondor

Colleen Mondor is the author of "The Map of My Dead Pilots: The Dangerous Game of Flying in Alaska." Find her at chasingray.com or on Twitter @chasingray.

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