ALASKAN AVIATION
Have you ever looked real close at the
maps of Alaska? The next time you see a map look for the little airplane
symbol in every little town and village in Alaska. That symbol indicates
an airstrip. That symbol also means that that is were some unfortunate
bush pilot crashed and said, “This looks like a good place for an airstrip.”
In the early days of Alaskan aviation it was not possible to call ahead
and determine if a community had a suitable landing strip. The pilot
simply flew to the village and looked for a open spot to land. A
controlled crash into deep snow usually resulted. Once aviation became
routine, the landing strips were refined and smoothed, but those first
fliers had to land by the seat of their pants.
The tales of Alaska are real, they are
bold, and they are tall. However, none is taller and truer then the
tales of the Alaskan aviator. Many people have come to Alaska seeking
their fortunes in gold or furs or lumber or oil. Many have come to
seek the adventure of the great outdoors. The aviator of Alaska came
for none of the above. They came because that is what he or she did.
A breed unto themselves, their actions have painted a portrait of forward
thinking men and women who stepped forward in time to see Alaska’s future.
That future being one in the air.
Alaskan aviation has contributed significantly
to the lives of Alaskans. Many communities send and receive mail,
receive groceries, provide emergency services, and maintain contact with
the outside world solely through the use of aircraft and the pilots who
fly them. Alaskans have a unique relationship with the aircraft.
Airplanes have enabled Alaskans to commute through their environment and
conduct business in almost normal fashion. Alaska has benefited greatly
through the use of aircraft and Alaskan aviators have contributed significantly
to the flying techniques used around the world.
The aviation history in Alaska begins ironically,
with a long, slow boat ride for an aircraft. After being off loaded
at Skagway, the aircraft was hauled by the Yukon Narrow Gauge Railroad
to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. It then traveled down the Yukon river
and up the Tanana river to Fairbanks were the aircraft was flown for the
1913, Fourth of July celebration (Mills and Phillips 13). Alaska
has never looked back from that first flight.
In the summer of 1922, Clarence O. Prest
decided to fly from New York to Nome. All went well until Prest departed
from Dawson City, Yukon Territory. After having engine trouble, Prest
crash landed on an isolated beach near Fort Yukon. Prest was transported
by a riverboat operator named Gilbert Cook to Tanana (Mills and Phillips
16). Clarence O. Prest is the first name in a long and famous list
of aviators that have crashed in the unforgiving terrain of Alaska’s wilderness.
Ben Eielson began the commercial use of
the airplane in Alaska when on February 21, 1924, he flew the first official
air mail flight in Alaska from Fairbanks to McGrath. Eielson, as
luck would have it, crashed on landing and returned to law studies at Georgetown
University Washington, D. C.(Mills and Phillips 16). Eielson would
latter return to Alaska to renew his sense of adventure.
The first flight across the Arctic took
place in 1925. Noel Wien transported two mining operators who wanted
to travel from Fairbanks to Wiseman, an arctic town some 80 miles north
of the Arctic Circle (Potter 80). Numerous aviation companies sprouted
in Alaska. These companies began to ferry supplies and passengers
to the towns and villages of Alaska. Operating primarily form Weeks
field in Fairbanks and landing strips in Anchorage, these companies racked
up a significant amount of “firsts”. Joe Crosson of the Bennett-Rodebough
Company made the first commercial flight from Fairbanks to Point Barrow
and the first flight over Mt. McKinley’s 20,320 foot summit (Mills and
Phillips 23). On April 16, 1928 Captains Carl Ben Eielson and an
Australian, George H. Wilkins, became the first aviators to successfully
fly over the North Pole. Their landing in Spitzbergen, Norway completed
a 2,200 mile flight (Mills and Phillips 27). This also marked the
first time that the knowledge of arctic aviation was used to specifically
design an aircraft. The knowledge of Ben Eielson, which he had gained
on his previous flights in Alaska, contributed to the future design of
aircraft.
Alaskan aviation matured quickly in 1929.
The early barnstormers had had incredible luck walking away from crash
after crash, but in 1929, all that changed. In September of 1929,
Russell Merrill departed on a flight from Anchorage to the Nyac mine near
Bethel. He was never seen again. On November 9,1929 Ben Eielson
was lost while enroute to Siberia. Ed Young was killed when his Fairchild
71 crashed at Livengood. The last to find his fate was Ralph Wien.
On October 12, 1930, Wien crashed at Kotzebue killing him and two priests.
The Kotzebue airfield is named in his honor (Mills and Phillips 30).
The tragic end of these great aviators marked the start of the great expansion
of aviation in the Alaska territory. The demand for air travel continued
to grow and with that demand came better aircraft, safer airstrips, and
more experienced pilots.
The 1930’s were an era of growth for the
aviation industry in Alaska. Aircraft became the sole means of reaching
isolated villages and lonesome trappers. This development encouraged great
expansion. Alaskan Airways was formed. The first flight training
school was established in Alaska, Star Air Service (Mills and Phillips
34). The events of the previous two decades had served to prepare
Alaska for the largest single event in U. S. history.
W. W. II saw aviation pushed to the
forefront of military planning. Its use would greatly determine the
outcome of the war. Whoever controlled the air would control the
ground, and whoever controlled the ground would win the war. Alaskan
aviators were at the forefront. The years of experience gained flying
through, over, and around the most hazardous terrain, gave the Alaskan
aviators key advantages in their fight with the Japanese.
Japan had renounced the Arms Treaty of
1922. This development made all of Alaska vulnerable to invasion.
Congress lobbied successfully for Army bases in Alaska and along the Aleutians.
Bases and airfields were established at Fairbanks (Ladd Field), Anchorage
(Elmendorf and Ft. Richardson), and Juneau (Annette Island Army Post).
The Japanese attack that followed two decades later was hardly a surprise,
however, the role Alaska was to play came as a real shock to those in Washington
who considered Alaska too remote to be of strategic importance.
On June 3, 1942 Captain Tadao Kato launched
the first of two attacks on Dutch Harbor. This attack was a diversionary
tactic by Imperial Fleet Admiral Yamamoto who was attempting to draw forces
away from his real goal of invading Midway Island (Mills 58). The
following day a second attack was launched at Dutch Harbor. Following
the attack, the task force that launched the attack disappeared into the
Aleutian weather, returning safely to Japanese waters. Dutch Harbor
sustained minor damage, but this attack was the first on American territory.
Alaska’s first major contribution came
on June 4, 1942. During the second attack on Dutch Harbor a lucky
shot from a Navy PBY brought down a Japanese zero. The zero was latter
recovered and shipped to the United States were it was disassembled and
studied. The test results from this deadly aircraft highlighted shortcomings
in U. S. aircraft design and many of the zero’s features were later incorporated
into the incredibly successful U. S. Navy F6-F Grumman Hellcat (Mills 66).
This was the first zero captured during the war.
On June 6, 1942 the Japanese invaded Kiska
and neighboring Attu Islands. The Japanese force immediately set
out to fortify their position. The first fortification was the emplacement
of anti-aircraft batteries and machine-guns for defense of the skies.
To engage an entrenched enemy requires
bombers and Alaska was in very short supply. The defense of Alaska
required that supplies and aircraft be flown from factories in California
to Alaska. With green pilots and flying over rough, unforgiving terrain
at high speeds, many of these valuable aircraft failed to materialize in
Alaska. Whole flights of Aircraft would disappear on their way.
Two squadrons of B-26 Mauraders left California and one month later the
first aircraft arrived in Fairbanks. When the last aircraft arrived,
45 days after first leaving California, a total of 13 of the original 45
aircraft had failed to reach Alaska (Mills 73).
In defense of Alaska was the 11th Air Force
under the command of Colonel William O. Eareckson. Eareckson, a former
Army enlisted, was appointed to West Point and following his commission,
dedicated his entire career to military aviation. He was assigned
to the defense of Alaska in March 1941. Colonel Eareckson was given
orders to bomb the Japanese out of the Aleutians. This task was made
extremely difficult due to the constantly bad Aleutian weather that shrouded
the islands in a constant blanket of fog. To accomplish his mission,
Eareckson experimented with several methods of delivering ordnance.
Using a technique used during the PBY blitzes, he used a volcano as a visual
reference point, then flying directly over the peak, made a timed distance
run with a stopwatch and compass, and dropped bombs on an unseen target.
This became known as dead reckoning bombing or “DR” runs. Eareckson
also began using time-delayed fuses on his bombs that prevented the bombs
from exploding under the low flying aircraft that had just dropped its
ordnance (Garfield 106). His experiences in Alaska were to contribute significantly
to the air war in the Pacific. Having flown in the worst weather
imaginable, Col. Eareckson was more than capable of handling a few enemy
fighters.
Another unique aspect of the war in Alaska
was the Lend -Lease program. The Lend- Lease program was established
to send supplies and equipment to the embattled Soviet Army. There
were three primary routes used to accomplish this task. The first
was a 13,000-mile route around Africa, up the Persian Gulf and across Iran.
The second and least used, was a north Atlantic route which ran the North
Atlantic to Archangel. This route was dangerous because of German
submarine activities. The third route was through Alaska. For
aircraft, this meant a flight starting in Great Falls, Montana and following
the route of the newly constructed ALCAN (Alaskan- Canadian) highway.
With refueling stops along the way, the flights traversed 1,900 miles and
ended in Fairbanks where the aircraft were turned over to Soviet pilots
for the remainder of the flight to Russia. Throughout the war, nearly
8000 aircraft were delivered in this method (Mills 73). Again the
contributions of pilots familiar with Alaska and its unforgiving weather
and terrain played a major role in the war effort. Many of Alaska’s
bush pilots played a role in the lend- lease delivery system. Bush
pilots Bob Ellis, Kenny Neese, Bert Ruoff, Murrell Sasseen and Clayton
Scott ferried aircraft to Alaska.
A major role was to be played by another
Alaska bush pilot. Allan Horning, a former military aviator before
flying the bush in Alaska, was ordered to active service as a guide pilot
to select locations for army air bases throughout Alaska and the Aleutians.
Elmendorf airfield was one of the locations chosen. Horning later
joined the Civil Aeronautics Administration and prior to and during the
war was instrumental in promoting navigation aids, other safety features
and regulating air traffic (Mills 81).
The Alaskan Theater was officially closed
with the retaking of Attu and Kiska Islands. A constant cycling of
aircraft for bombing runs over the islands had kept the Japanese weak and
without supplies for months. The bombardments by both the Navy and
the Air Corp had made it impossible for the Japanese to complete their
landing strips. When the liberation of Attu began on May 11, 1943,
the Japanese were without resupply capabilities and without any chance
of reinforcement. The Japanese were outgunned and outmanned yet the
invasion of Attu would go down in history as the second costliest battle
of the Pacific Theater, second only to the blood shed of Iwo Jima (Mills
93). The invasion of Kiska Island was another story. Having
been cut off with the retaking of Attu Island the Japanese command decided
to evacuate the beleaguered troops on Kiska. When the Army landed
on August 15, 1943, they found only a dozen dogs to greet them. The
Allied Air Service had lost 471 aircraft in the Aleutian Campaign.
The Japanese losses were 69 aircraft lost in combat and 200 lost due to
fog or storm (Mills 104).
July 10, 1943, saw a new development in
the war with Japan. Using Attu as a base to launch raids, the Army
Air Force began to pound the Japanese Naval facilities in the Kuriles Islands.
Bombing raids were limited, although the presence of hostile aircraft required
the Japanese to defend their islands with numerous aircraft and ships that
could have been useful in other areas of the war. The bombing raids
convinced the Japanese that the invasion of the Japanese mainland lie somewhere
in the near future. They attempted to prepare for an invasion which
never materialized.
A history of aviation in Alaska, especially
the war era, can not be concluded without a detailed study of the contributions
to the war effort by the pilots and aircraft of the Navy PBY squadrons.
These “flying boats,” were a reconnaissance platform which was used to
locate enemy forces. During the Aleutian campaign many of these aircraft
became involved in offensive combat which they were ill equipped to do.
Throughout the remainder of the war the PBY squadrons continued around
the clock operations as the watchful eyes of the north. The pilots
and squadrons were awarded numerous citations for valor and heroism including
the Flying Cross and Air Medals (Freeman 177).
Brigadier General William “Billy” Mitchell
said, “Alaska is the most central place in the world for aircraft, and
this is true either of Europe, Asia or North America. I believe in
the future. He who holds Alaska will hold the world, and I think
it is the most strategic place in the world.” This was to hold true
throughout the war and into the 21st century.
With the end to the war Alaskans quickly
turned back to their normal way of life. This included their continued
love affair with the airplane. The wars residual effect was that
many new innovations were left in place which encouraged and benefited
future fliers. These included but a not limited to airports, navigational
aids, radio communication, and up to date charts of most of Alaska, including
the Aleutian chain (Mills 145).
Tourism began to be a major economic resource
for Alaskans. Aircraft allowed the sportsman, fisherman and explorers
to reach places yet unexplored. Entirely new businesses began to
emerge in and around the aircraft industry. Some of these new businesses
were flying schools, charter sightseeing flights, mechanics, parts and
services, fuel and oil sales. Anchorage soon became the air cross
roads to the orient. International air carriers refueled for international
flights over the pole or using the great circle route. In 1960, with
the dedication of the Anchorage International Airport, Anchorage became
the country’s fifth busiest terminal for freight and passenger traffic
(Mills 146).
Alaskan aviation has also moved into the
future with the introduction on the rocket. NASA’s Jet propulsion
Laboratories use the hangars of Ladd Field, now Ft. Wainwright, to conduct
tests of the upper atmosphere. The research conducted aids in the
future understanding of upper atmospheric wind and weather conditions.
The University of Alaska, Fairbanks launches
and retrieves data from launches at the Poker Flats Research Range, just
30 miles north of Fairbanks. The Poker Flats facility is the only non-federal,
university owned and operated range in the world and the only high-latitude,
auroral-zone rocket launch facility in the United States. More than
1,500 meteorologic missiles and 236 major high-altitude sounding rocket
experiments have been launched by scientists and technicians. Studies are
conducted by universities and agencies from around the world on topics
such as the aurora, ozone layer solar protons the electric and magnetic
fields and ultraviolet radiation (http://www.pfrr.alaska.edu/~pfrr/PFRR/INDEX.HTM).
These results enhance our understanding of the aurora borealis and the
effects that this phenomenon has on communication, navigation and other
flight related sciences.
Alaskan’s have always had a deep love for
the aircraft and the people that fly them. With the invention of
the plane, adventurers sought uncharted areas to explore and limits to
be pushed. This drive to go higher and faster has opened Alaska to the
whole of North America and the world. Today, thanks to the efforts
of many pilots, Alaska’s remote villages and communities have emergency
services at their disposal. They purchase needed supplies that hold
them over for the winter. They communicate with the outside world
and travel to lobby state government for changes needed in their environment
and towns for their continued well being. Aviation has brought
new sources of commerce to towns that would have long ago disappeared.
Tourism, Alaska’s third largest industry, is greatly indebted to the aircraft.
Planes bring millions of travelers annually to the farthest reaches of
Alaska and with these travelers comes the needed income for thriving communities.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Freeman, Elmer A.. Those Navy
Guys and Their PBY’s: The Aleutian Solution.
Spokane, Washington: Kedging Publishing
Co., 1984.
Garfield, Brian. The Thousand
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Levi, Steven, and O’Meara, Jim.
Bush Flying. United States: McGraw-Hill, 1992.
MacLean, Robert Merrill, and Rossiter,
Sean. Flying Gold: The Adventures of Russell
Merrill, Pioneer Alaskan Aviator.
Fairbanks, AK: Epicenter Press, 1994
Mills, Stephen E., and Phillips,
James W.. Sourdough Sky. Seattle, WA.: Superior
Publishing Co., 1969.
Mills, Stephen E.. Arctic
War Birds: Alaska Aviation of WWII. Seattle, WA: Superior
Publishing Co., 1971.
Potter, Jean. Flying Frontiersmen.
N.Y.: The MacMillan Co., 1956
Wachel, Pat. Oscar Winchell:
Alaska’s Flying Cowboy. Minneapolis: T. S. Denison
and Co. Inc., 1967.
USAF Museum. Aleutian Islands
1942-1943: The Aleutian Campaign. [Online]
available Http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/history/wwii/Cp10.htm,
July 1998.
Poker Flat Research Range.
General Information. [Online] available
http://www.pfrr.alaska.edu/~pfrr/PFRR/INDEX.HTM,
July 1998
