Heidi Reuss

BORN: Nov. 12, 1934
BIRTHPLACE: Zurich, Switzerland
SOLOED: 31 years old
MARRIED: 1952, to Herman Ruess
FAVORITE AIRCRAFT: Taylorcraft

Heidi was born on Nov. 12, 1934, in Zurich, Switzerland. When she was 16 years old, she met Herman Ruess during a street dance celebrating Zurich's entry into the Swiss Federation. Despite the pouring rain, she fell in love with Herman in his Swiss military uniform and the couple married after two years of dating.

Shortly after they were married, Herman was officially transferred by the military to New Mexico, where the couple stayed for less than a year. In his spare time, he built a glider model airplane, which the couple enjoyed bringing to the White Sands for trial flights.

It wasn't until years later, prompted by her desire to keep their children safe, that Ruess learned to fly, first as co-pilot on family trips with her husband and later she found a love for instructing that would equip and inspire generations of Alaska pilots.

COMING TO ALASKA

The couple packed up all their belongings, plus a pet cat, and drove to Alaska on the bumpy Alcan after another military transfer. They were warned that Alaska was a distant and dangerous place and found this to be true as they were stranded in Fort Nelson for three days because the bridge had washed away. They finally drove through the riverbed and headed to Alaska. As they arrived into Anchorage, they found the city was deserted.

"There wasn't a sole person walking around," Ruess recalled. "We found out that the town was participating in a trial civil evacuation in preparation for a potential natural disaster."

IN THE AIR

Ruess took her first flight in an Aeronca held together by rivets.

"… It was scary as hell!" Ruess said, "… I felt the wind coming in through all the parts of the plane. During the flight, my husband asked me to hold the yoke while he changed the film in his camera and I managed to go 180 degrees in the opposite direction and 2,000 feet higher, which did not help my fear of heights!"

Ruess worked at the Elmendorf Credit Union while her husband spent three years working in the military. Ruess made more money than he did back then, which "felt really good!"

When her husband was discharged from the military, they moved to Seattle. There Ruess gave birth to a son, Rick, and a daughter, Heidi Jr.

From Seattle, their young family moved to New Mexico. It was there that Ruess's protective instincts prompted her to learn to fly. She feared not being able to land the airplane that her husband flew as he trained for his CFI rating. They often flew together with their children, so she decided to become a pilot.

THE FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR

Ruess earned her private, commercial, instrument, instrument instructor and multi-engine licenses in two years. While instructing in New Mexico most of her students were working at the Los Alamos Laboratory. They were physicists, mathematicians and chemists. It was easy to teach ground school to these students, but teaching them to fly was difficult—they were constantly analyzing everything.

Flying in Los Alamos was often interesting: New Mexico had crosswinds most of the time and the 7,150-foot elevation put quite a stress on her C150. Additionally, pilots could not perform go-arounds, due to the location of Los Alamos Laboratory.

When it came time to leave Los Alamos, her husband was anxious to return to Alaska, where Ruess continued her career in flight instruction.

"Upon our return I was hired by Pat's Flying Service at Merrill Field as an instructor. My friend, Margie Nord, and I were the only female flight instructors…" she said.

She found her Alaskan students were a bit different than the students she taught in New Mexico: They were eager to fly so they could go fishing and hunting; these students wanted to get into the wilds of Alaska.

The Ruess's loved flying in Alaska with their family. "One time we flew the T-Craft, along with my children, to Paradise Lake in the Kenai area. The weather came in and we ran out of food. My son saved the day by catching about 20 fish and we kept it cool in an upside down boat for the next few days," Ruess said.

During an adventure with her nephew out to the cabin she and her husband built on Donkey Creek Lake, Ruess recalled running into troublesome weather: "The wind was at least 20 knots and it took me twice as long and I only got part of the way. At Alexander Lake I decided to land and wait for better weather, not to mention it was dark and [the plane was] on floats. I approached for landing and quickly discovered that there was two inches of ice on top of the water."

She abruptly stopped and the noise of the landing caught the attention of the owner of the Alexander Lake Lodge, who helped chop the ice and pulled the plane to shore.

Ruess loved teaching and was proud to take her students to visit all the exceptional places and people of Alaska.

"I was able to combine instruction with getting to know Alaska," she said. "For instance, one of my students needed to do his solo cross-country. He decided to go to McCarthy and I decided to accompany him in another airplane, along with five other pilots and four airplanes. Needless to say, the student was in good hands—or so we thought. The student and all pilots safely landed, camped out with a visit from a bear and returned back to Anchorage the next day, with gusts of 20 knots or more. Although the student had some experience with crosswind landings, I was biting my nails with anxiety."

The student landed the plane perfectly and made it all the way back to parking. "We all sighed with relief and could not stop laughing," Ruess recalled. "That is until the airplane of the solo student rolled into another plane. I learned not to relax too soon."

She worked at Pat's Flying Service for three years, while the trans-Alaska pipeline was being built. She wound up with more students than she could reasonably handle. So she made a change and began working for Northwestern. There she had a chance to fly Super Cubs and Cherokees.

Ruess went on to commercial flying in a Cessna 185 and Cessna 206 on floats and Cessna 182 on wheels. Her next career move was to Petco Aviation at Anchorage International Airport, flying Citabras, Cessna 172, Moonies and a Baron.

Eventually, she decided to return to instructing. She started Arctic Flyers at Lake Hood. She made it a point to take her students to interesting Alaska sights.

Ruess always felt that her husband, Herman, was the heart and soul of Arctic Flyers. He taught her and their children to fly and he knew aviation, how airplanes are built and how to fix them. He was an effective instructor who could fly a straight line and taught her to do the same. Their son Rick is now the lead instructor at Arctic Flyers and Ruess still instructs part time at 81 years old. Ruess's daughter uses her instructing knowledge to train dogs in agility and obedience.

"My greatest accomplishment," Ruess said, "is that my kids are having the same goals [as me]."

She's taught many students in her 50 years as an instructor. She said, "It has been an amazing career and I hope the students will remember me and the lessons I tried to teach."

This story first appeared in the 2016 edition of Alaska Aviation Legends Magazine, a partner publication with Alaska Air Carriers Association. Contact the editor, Jamie Gonzales, at jgonzales@alaskadispatch.com.