Wandering Skies

    When Push Comes to Shove “What do you mean ‘we’re stuck’?” My buddy Chris looked at me like I’d suddenly decided to try some outrageous joke to start the day. I was standing in the shallow water beside my Cessna 182 amphibious floatplane, which had carried us into the majestic Alaskan backcountry and was now the source of my concern. As I waded through the muddy water, it was becoming obvious that the remote lake near Ketchikan had conspired with the lesser gods of fortune to ruin our day. When I learned to fly floatplanes, it was all happy times and great fun on the lakes of central Texas. We would launch from the paved runway, retract the gear and head out to one of the nearby waterways to practice takeoffs and landings. Our focus was on learning the necessary skills to safely operate the small Piper Super Cub on the usually calm waters of the Highland Lakes. The biggest challenge seemed to be learning to dock the little floatplane without damaging something. Sometim...

Chasing Rainbows… Life as an Alaskan Lodge Pilot   “Alaska is trying really hard to kill you all the time.” Explained Chip Feguson as we visited last month in Galveston, Texas. “The challenges and rewards are immense, but it is not for everyone”, he continued. Chip and Amanda Ferguson own Alaska Rainbow Lodge on the Kvichak River located 230 miles southwest of Anchorage where they host anglers from around the world who come for world class rainbow trout fishing, bear watching and incomparable scenery. Most arrive by commercial flights into Anchorage, then catch a chartered King Air to King Salmon where they board one of Chip’s three DeHavilland Beavers for the 30-minute flight to the lodge. I’ve been fortunate to fly Super Cubs and floatplanes in Alaska for adventure and exploration but never as a working pilot, so Chip graciously agreed to spend an afternoon sharing insights about the reality of life as a bush pilot flying ...