Frank Barr: Alaskan Pioneer Bush Pilot and One-man Airline

by Dermot Cole, Frank Barr (As Told by)

Overview

Frank Barr was one of the most interesting of the early aviation pioneers in Alaska. At age 28, the former calvalryman, parachute jumper and test pilot, signed on to a Yukon gold expedition in 1932 as a back up pilot.  After the expedition failed to find enough gold, Frank Barr stayed in the north country and spent the rest of his career as a bush pilot. He flew every early plane from the Jenny to the Super Cub, carrying passengers and freight to remote villages in Alaska and the Yukon.
 
In 1948 Barr was elected to the Territorial Senate, and held that seat when in 1955 he one of the 55 Alaskans chosen by the people to write a state constitution.  Today Alaska's state constitution is considered one of the best state constitutions ever written. Alaska was admitted to the union in 1959.
 
In his later years he flew bush routes for Alaska Airlines and became manager of the northern division.  Even in retirement down in the lower forty-eight states, he conducted tours to Alaska and Mexico until he finally retired for good in 1974.
 
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780882405254
Publisher:	TURNER PUB CO
Publication date:	09/01/1999
Series:	PLANES
Edition description:	Illustrated, Caribou Classic series
Pages:	132
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Cole is a newspaper columnist and historian.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1 - Lost on Wolf Lake

Chapter 2 - Those Who Didn't

Chapter 3 - A Cavalryman on the Mexican Border

Chapter 4 - Flying High in Detroit

Chapter 5 - The Mitchell Drinking Expedition

Chapter 6 - Adventures in Atlin

Chapter 7 - A Shoestring Operation

Chapter 8 - Flying the Submarine

Chapter 9 - The Search for Barr

Chapter 10 - Highways in the Skies

Chapter 11 - Airmail on the Kuskokwim

Chapter 12 - Alaska Goes to War

Chapter 13 - Flying for Alaska Airlines

Chapter 14 - A Roving Bush Pilot

Chapter 15 - Flying is Better than Walking

Sources

About the Author

Editorial Reviews

Frank Barr presents a fascinating — perhaps even archetypal — life. Barr's adventures spirit and love of fun come through clearly.      —Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

From the Publisher