Gene's Aviation Page

I spent many hours of my youth (1955-65) learning about post war (WW II) light civil aircraft and I have a love for aircraft of that type and vintage. I have been a pilot since 1965 and have had the opportunity to fly several planes of that era. I still have a soft spot in my heart for a 1947 Ryan Navion that I flew all over Montana and Wyoming in the mid 1970's. I have lived in Alaska from 1986 to 2008 and being somewhat engaged in aviation I had chances to photograph some aircraft from that era that are still in use in Alaska.

To The Navion Page

Use the image link below to go straight to the Navion Page. The Navion page is dedicated to Navion aircraft. There are many pictures and some links to Navion resources.

Here are a few pictures of some interesting and unusual aircraft I saw when I lived in Alaska.

This is the Explorer designed and built in 1991 by Dean Wilson, the Avid Flyer designer. It was custom built for Hubert De Chevigny, a French adventurer, and used as a sort of "Calypso" of the air and land as well as water. It was used to film Alaskan and Canadian wilderness. The aircraft was damaged in a take off accident at a remote Pacific Coast strip in British Columbia and vandalized by locals before it could be recovered for repairs. The Explorer II was built in 1994 and as far as I know it is still in service. There is a good article about both Explorers in the October 1995 Kitplanes Magazine. To dwonload a zipped scan of the article, about 1 MB, click here. I took this picture (19K JPEG image) at Merrill Field here in Anchorage in 1992.

Here is a small amphibian, the Avid Catalina, and another Dean Wilson design. I don't have too many details on this one but the one at Merrill Field here in Anchorage (shown with this one on the picture link) has a liquid cooled engine and a three bladed composit propeller. the Catalina is a three place aircraft, with two seats in front with a single seat in back. It is a tail dragger with manual gear retraction and uses flaperons like the Avid Flyer. Construction is tube and fabric with a simple wing like it's sister the Explorer, above.

This is the Osprey2 "Homebuilt" amphibian aircraft. It's a two place side-by-side with a four cylinder Lycoming 160hp engine. It was designed by George Pereira of Sacramento, CA as the two place version of his original Osprey. I'm not sure of how many examples are currently in operation but I was so impressed with the information package that I bought the plan and my serial number is 1405. There is a specimen of this aircraft, donated by the husband and wife builders, in the Alaskaland Aviation Museum in Fairbanks, AK. The craftsmanship and finish on this beautiful little airplane is excellent. To download a zipped package of 20 jpeg pictures (about 1.5MB) of this little amphibian click here. This picture shown here is a scan of one that comes in the information package.

The Grumman Goose G-21. Production of the original G-21 began in 1937 and even though there aren't a whole lot of these left in the operation, this is not an uncommon sight in Alaska. Several of the Goose's sisters; the Mallard, the Widgeon and an occasional Albatross are also seen here in Alaska. Several of this variety are based here in Anchorage. I'd be glad to acknowledge the photographer on this one but I can't remember where I got the 21K JPEG file. I think I got it from somewhere out there in cyber land

This is a De Havilland Otter, DHC-3, on floats. The Otter first flew in 1951 and it's sister the Beaver DHC-2 first flew in 1947. Both can be equipped with floats and are plentiful in Alaska for use in accessing remote fishing sites. They are both powered by radial engines and are not particularly economical to operate but they are a real workhorse and pack a good load. The photographer is H. Elliot and this shot (32k JPEG) was taken in Eagle Lake, Ontario.

This is a Beechcraft Model 18 that is based in Juneau, Alaska. I understand that this airplane has never been equipped with landing gear (wheel type). It was manufactured without landing gear and floats were installed at the factory. I have been told that the useful load is 400 pounds higher than the same airplane with landing gear installed. I have not confirmed this officially. If anyone knows anything about this aircraft please leave me the information and I will update this page.

This is an unusual specimen. It is an Evangel and one of only a few, if not the only one. As far as I know it was manufactured by the Evangel Air Company, but I don't really have any details about it. I saw it several years ago at Anchorage International with a brand new paint job. Then a summer or two later I saw it somewhere in the bush and it had seen some hard service. It is configured with the two crew seats and a huge open area for cargo, it looks like maybe it has served as a fish hauler. I took this photo April '97 at Anchorage International

More pictures and links to come..

Comments? Ideas?

Last Update 04/21/2018