Bush Pilots Keep Alaska Moving

Photo Credit: Chip Porter/Getty Photo, Getty ImagesWithin moments of entering the plane, I smelled the rich aroma of freshly ground coffee. The java, however, wasn’t being brewed by a flight attendant in the galley, because neither existed on this four-seater floatplane. The coffee was cargo. More on that in a minute.

Through headsets that thankfully muted the engine noise, pilot Paul Norden’s voice crackled, “All right, we’re out of here.” The plane began to race across a runway of water at the Lake Hood Seaplane Base, the largest such airport in the world, an aquatic version of New York’s JFK. A few seconds later, the Cessna 206 was airborne.

In most any other American tourist destination, I’d typically grab a cab. But these planes are the “cabs” of the Alaskan wilderness — and the limos and the supply trucks and the ambulances and vehicles for anything else that needs moving over this gorgeous, unforgiving land.

As the Anchorage skyline quickly disappeared behind us, Norden pointed out myriad lakes and rivers as he headed northwest. Flying only 700 feet above the ground, it was easy to spot an occasional moose — once the pilot pointed it out.

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