Carl Ben Eielson pioneered Alaska aviation in the 1920s, flew the first transarctic flight in 1928, and died on a November 1929 mercy mission to a fur-trading ship locked in Siberian pack ice.
TaildraggerBob Reeve turned Alaska's tidal mudflats and glaciers into a commercial freight operation in 1932, building one of aviation's most unlikely empires from nothing.
TaildraggerBob Reeve arrived in Valdez, Alaska in 1932 with $30 and built the most accomplished glacier flying operation of Alaska's golden age of bush aviation.
TaildraggerBob Reeve pioneered glacier landing techniques in 1930s Alaska using painted tire tracks and systematic risk assessment, eventually founding Reeve Aleutian Airways.
TaildraggerCarl Ben Eielson pioneered Alaska airmail and crossed the Arctic Ocean in 1928 - then vanished over the Bering Sea on November 9, 1929, at age 32.
TaildraggerCarl Ben Eielson opened Alaska to air travel in the 1920s before dying at 32 during a 1929 Arctic rescue mission over the Bering Strait.
TaildraggerCarl Ben Eielson pioneered commercial aviation in Alaska before disappearing over the Bering Sea on November 9, 1929, sparking one of aviation history's most dangerous search operations.
TaildraggerBob Reeve turned Valdez tidal mud flats into a runway in 1932 and pioneered commercial glacier landing in Alaska using seal oil and methodical improvisation.
TaildraggerHarold Gillam was Alaska's most feared bad-weather pilot - until a January 1943 mountain in southeastern Alaska ended his legendary career and stranded five survivors for 32 days.
TaildraggerCarl Ben Eielson pioneered Alaska's airmail routes and crossed the Arctic Ocean before dying in a 1929 mercy mission over Siberia at age 32.
TaildraggerHow Bob Reeve arrived in Depression-era Alaska with $75 and invented commercial glacier flying on the tidal flats of Valdez.
TaildraggerHow broke bush pilot Bob Reeve used tidal mudflats and homemade steel skis to land airplanes on Alaskan glaciers and build an airline.
TaildraggerRadio Hangar explores Bob Reeve, the Valdez Mudflats, and the Stainless-Steel Skis That Turned a Tidal Bog Into the Only Runway a Glacier Pilot Needed.
TaildraggerHow Talkeetna bush pilot Don Sheldon landed a Super Cub uphill on Denali's glaciers to rescue climbers and map the mountain.
TaildraggerHow Alaska bush pilot Don Sheldon mastered glacier landings on Denali and flew hundreds of daring rescue missions in a fabric Super Cub.
TaildraggerHow North Dakota schoolteacher Carl Ben Eielson flew Alaska's first airmail, crossed the Arctic by air, and vanished over Siberian ice.
TaildraggerHow Bob Reeve, the Glacier Pilot of Valdez, used homemade stainless-steel skis to land on Alaska's glaciers and supply remote gold mines.
TaildraggerHow broke barnstormer Bob Reeve turned Alaska's tidal mud and moving glaciers into runways and became aviation's legendary Glacier Pilot.
TaildraggerHow Talkeetna bush pilot Don Sheldon flew an ordinary Cessna 180 on skis onto Denali's glaciers to rescue stranded climbers.
TaildraggerHow Noel Wien's 1924 Fairbanks-to-Nome flight invented Alaska bush flying and shaped modern backcountry aviation.
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