Bush flying
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Bush flying is a term for air operations carried out in remote, inhospitable regions of the world. Bush flying involves operations in rough terrain, frequently necessitating bush planes be equipped with tundra tires, floats, or skis. This type of flying, combined with unpredictable weather and distance from help means that bush pilots have to be very resourceful to be successful, or all too frequently, just to stay alive. Given all these elements, bush flying has entered the world of aviation and popular culture as a rugged, romantic lifestyle that combines elements of great beauty and independence with constant danger.
Bush flying as it is known today originated in the Alaskan North. With no roads and many small, isolated communities air transport was the ideal method to open up the North. Originally started to provide logistics like food, medicine, and mail to northern communities, bush operations grew rapidly to support mining interests as well as climbing, canoeing, and hiking. Bush flying is the primary method of access across the Canadian and Alaskan tundra, the Australian Outback and to the African Sahara.
Bush pilots must fend for themselves because they are so far from help. Critical skills range from survival skills like trapping and shelter-building, to mechanical skills for airplane repair. The life-and-death nature of bush flying also means that bush pilots frequently resort to untested methods for accomplishing the job. Whether this means repairing an airplane engine with duct tape or landing a floatplane on snow, the result is that many common aviation practices are pioneered in bush flying. It also results in frequent accidents, as evidenced by the fact that even today Alaska records the highest percent of aviation accidents in the United States.
Bush flying has attracted many of the world's most famous aviators such as Robert Campbell Reeve, Punch Dickins, Wop May, Cliff Hudson, Donald Sheldon (Robert Reeve's son in law), and Beryl Markham, whose pioneering exploits helped push back the frontiers on some of the most inhospitable parts of the world.
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