N575L HEROES OF THE HORIZOR Flying Adventures of Alaska's Legendary Bush Pilots Gerry Bruder Alaska Northwest Books™ Anchorage ­ Seattle Copyright © 1991 by Gerry Bruder All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission of the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging­in­Publication Data Bruder, Gerry, 1944­ Heroes of the horizon : flying adventures of Alaska's legendary bush pilots / Gerry Bruder. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0­88240­363­X 1. Bush pilots—Alaska—Biography. 2. Aeronautics—Alaska— History. I. Tide. TL539.B79 1991 629.13' 092—dc20 [B] 91­14326 CIP Edited by Ellen Harkins Wheat Book design by Cameron Mason Photo editing by Carrie Seglin Map by Cameron Mason and Carol Palmer Cover Photos. Front cover: A Grumman Widgeon flies over the Arrigetch Peaks in the Brooks Range, Alaska. Photo by Fred Hirschmann. Back cover: Author Gerry Bruder and Kenmore Air's Cessna 180 at Barkley Sound on the west coast ofVancouver Island, British Columbia. Photo by Larry Clinton. Alaska Northwest Books™ A division of GTE Discovery Publications, Inc. 22026 20th Avenue S.E. Bothell,WA 98021 Printed on acid­free recycled paper in the United States of America CONTENTS Foreword by Noel Merrill Wien — 10 FRATERNITY OF FLYERS — 13 JERRY JONES Old and Bold — 21 BLLL ENGLISH Cherishing Two Cultures — 32 BUD BODDING Father Goose — 41 SLG WLEN The Eskimos'Friend — 53 FRED CHAMBERS Lost on the Nulato — 60 R.UTH JEFFORD Wings and Strings — 67 RAY RENSHAW Everybody's Favorite — 76 DON HULSHIZER Day of the Lunatic — 85 BOB ELLIS Southeast Pioneer — 94 TONY SCHULTZ Maverick — 104 JACK WILSON Glacier Expert — 115 EMITT SOLDIN Government Pilot — 124 GEORGE AND VIRGINIA CLAYTON Serenade in the Sky — 132 KEN ELCHNER Always on Call — 142 RANDY ACORD Still Infatuated — 155 JIM HUTCHISON The Interior's Mechanic — 162 — 5 — ALDEN WILLIAMS Master Teacher — 170 MLKE HUNT Bushing in the Big Ones — 176 BUD HELMERICKS Arctic Philosopher — 184 CLIFF EVERTS Bush Pilot Entrepreneur — 193 LLOYD JARMAN Riding Shotgun — 199 BUD SELTENREICH Working Man — 207 NORM GERDE AND CARL BLOOMQUIST Weather Routine — 217 MARY WORTHYLAKE History and Perspective — 223 RODGER ELLIOTT Finding Solutions — 232 ORVILLE TOSCH The Richest S.O.B. —239 DICK MCINTYRE The Good Old Days — 247 SHELL SIMMONS Talk of the Town — 254 Acknowledgments — 263 Glossary of Aviation Terms — 264 More Books about Bush Flying — 273 Index — 274 _ 6 — Pioneer bush pilot Joe Crosson flies a Fairehild 71 over Lynn Canal north of Juneau in the mid­1930s. Photo by Lloyd Jarman — 7 — ARCTIC OCEAN ,BEA UF ORT SEj Point Lay Cape Lisbui CHUKCHI SEA Anaktuvuk Pass lotzebue Shishmj Walker Lake V Deering ­ Candle SEWARD PENINSULA Stevens Village Nome Mose^Point Rampaji/ ^ w * Chena H Nulato . Hot Springs ­ Spring: Norton Sound Ruby Fairbanks.. Unalakleet ­ Nort Nenana Pol Lake Minchumma ­ R A N G E Duntain rillage Cape Roman ­^cGrath .M OUNT MCKINL; SO Fortuna ­ Talkeetna Gfennall ­ Wasilla ^Anchorage < Kuskokmm (­ Soldotnaj Bay ^ Sewart BERING SEA Iliamtu Cape Newenhai ­illingham ­ Salmon Bristol Bay GULF PACIFIC OCEJ Haine: MOU1 FAIRI Cape Fairweather UCHAGC .ISLAND I ADMIRALTY Arctic ~ ISLAND )hicken ­ Dawson City LLAGr©£DO North way ­ Peily Crossing NCE OF W; fSLANE>% ISLAND ­ Kennicottl Burwash Landing ­Whitehorse Dixon Entrance Yakutaj Stewart fee Rupert FOREWORD Gerry Bruder has written a fine selection of profiles about some of the outstanding Alaskan pioneer aviators. I am privileged to have known most of these airmen, and my association with them has enriched my life. Much has been written about the first to fly in Alaska, and justi­ fiably so. Those flyers penetrated the uncertain skies of a vast, uncharted land. Some gave their lives. The course was set for a new generation of outstanding men and women, who continued to shape the future of Alaska and the aviation industry. The airplane served to open up a rich and beautiful frontier, as did the covered wagon a century before. Many of the people who came to Alaska stayed, eager to accept the adventures of a new life. Others left, unable to cope with the inconveniences of a remote and harsh land. Still others were born and raised here, destined to leave their mark. When asked what they like about Alaska, some reply, "it's the people," while others say, "I love the challenge." Visitors are often amazed at the challenges Alaskan avaitors face. I am reminded of a flight to Gambell, on St. Lawrence Island, in the early 1960s. We were flying a C­46 and one of our passengers was an airline pilot from the South 48. I offered him the jump seat. It was a typical whiteout winter day. There was a 25­knot crosswind with drifting snow, which made it difficult to see the runway if you didn't know where it was. I don't think he liked the drift correction we — 10 — were holding on final, either. In a C­46, sometimes it is necessary to land in a semi­crab angle with these conditions to keep from being blown off the runway. I have to admit, it would look a little scary if you hadn't been doing it for some time. After we landed, I noticed that he was no longer in the cockpit. Apparently he decided, somewhere on final approach, that the rear of the airplane was the place to be. These kinds of adventures fill the pages of Heroes of the Horizon. The author has captured an excellent cross­section of some outstand­ ing airmen during a very exciting period of aviation. —Noel Merrill Wien Noel Merrill Wien has flown over 28,500 hours as pilot in command of a variety of aircraft, from bush planes to helicopters to tire Lockheed L­1011. He flew in the Air Force from 1951 to 1956. A member of the famous Wien family, he was a pilot for Wien Alaska Airlines (with time out for military service) from 1950 to 1985, when the company was dissolved. Wien Alaska Airlines was originally started in 1927 by his father, Noel Wien, legendary pioneer Alaskan aviator, who came north in 1924. — 11 —