Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Bush pilot school.?

Alaska Wind Shear killed the Brother in Law of a friend of mine.

Not just anyone would ever make a good pilot.

So true. And the reason that I have the piece of paper that says I'm a pilot and am very happy to pay someone to fly into sheep country every year.

I would call hageland air and see where their pilots get their licenses at. And then cross those schools off your list.

The outfit we've used in Alaska with a couple Beavers and Cubs has to generate almost a quarter million just to cover their annual insurance costs. Were I to ever move there, I'd for sure go the cheap way and do charters.

On the boat side, my drift boat has been dirt cheap, but I don't do upstream runs very often. Were I to go the power mode, the motor and pump would be about 80% of the total boat costs.

see we don't always lie around here!

ok that was funny!

Fixt!

In an Irish Fly Shop an Irish fly fisherman told me all Irish fishermen are liars... the only exception is when they are calling another Irish fisherman a liar!

You can do worse..... a lot. But they also have some of the best in the game. It's not the schooling near as much as it is the experience and judgement to match... along with solid equipment upkeep standards.

Does it have to be bush school?

I have been a flight instructor for 43 years and flown in Alaska for almost as long. I have seen a number of "schools" purporting to teach bush flying skills but have never met any of the "instructors" that impressed me . One learns bush flying skills only after you have mastered the basic flying skills. You then hone your short/soft field techniques and begin learning. Many of us did it by flying commercially as well as on our own.

Once you have a commercial license you will find no lack of opportunities as there is a severe shortage of pilots nationwide

Yeah, there is a universe between becoming a PP and becoming an experienced and very good PP and a bush pilot is another world away IMO. I was still working when I became a PP and then decided to get an IFR rating for greater safety and competency. It took me only a short time to realize that an IFR rating would do me little good unless a I could fly a lot every week doing approaches and departures or I’d forget it all. Becoming 𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 is one thing; being competent and having good judgment is a another totally different thing.

Even in the usually stable, checker-boarded Midwest with sunny skies and clear forecasts, Ive gotten in a few tight spots taking VFR trips when unexpected weather sprang up.

Taking a good hard & honest look at the costs involved in piloting yourself or others into the kinds of places you really want to go versus the cost of paying a truly accomplished pilot with a quality air taxi service makes the air taxi cost look like the best deal in the whole world. To go to the kind of places you really want to go requires the kind of skills that a pilot only gains after hundreds and probably thousands of hours of bush flying. Pay a quality air taxi operator and you'll be time and money and safety ahead. Spend your money on other things instead.

Wow, worked all day and didn't check in to the 'fire once to see what was going on until this evening. Well this thread sure blew up... you guys are a blast.!

I love the jokes, the humor, the sound councel, and Sitka has nearly slapped all the stupid out of me.!


I'll be in Anchorage the first few days of May, if any of you are going to be around I'd sure enjoy some face time with any and all of you.

Maybe skip the bush pilot school and head straight to the Bush Company....

Speaking of ways to lose your money and your life...

A couple of comments.

To start, I don't have a pilots license, I considered it for a year, got some solid advice and have dropped the idea.

But if you NEED the plane to get done what you want, thats another thing. Or if you have the money and simply want to.

But from a pilot here that I really trust, he told me should take me 5 years of flying to become "good" at flying. And then another 5 in the bush to become good at that. 10 years. I'll be old enough that I won't want to trust myself by the time I become proficient. Take that for what its worht. I"ve had other pilots and PIs validate his thoughts.

Then you look at a plane... 100K give or take, and we never even got to look at insurance or maintenance and fuel costs vs how long it sits...

Heck we have a 30K airboat that sits a LOT... it was because we wanted it. But it really isn't cost efficient either.....

The guy that transported us in Alaska (Beaver) had been at it for about 20 years. He put us in some tight spots where there were no campfire rings in evidence. When he picked us up, we came out one at a time as it was too tight to get off with a load. Same for my moose and caribou. Picked up each quarter and then halves respectively, going to a larger lake where we packed in the full load and had a mile or more to get off. He retired and couple years back and his replacement piled in on his second outing.

My recommendation, if you're planning to live up this way and need somewhat regular, dependable air transport, is to find out who the good pilots are from locals who use air services from time to time. (Locals generally know who 'is or 'isn't' good to fly with.) Greasing the landings in fair weather isn't nearly as important as finding (or avoiding) terra firma when things get dicey and being able to meet it safely.