The Alaska Bush Pilot’s Son

Did he expect that at age 14 he would be in a Piper J-3 flying nearly upside down in a maelstrom above the Cook Inlet? From the time he was a toddler, Mark flew in his father's bush planes, colored airplane pictures, assembled model airplanes, pretended his bicycle was an airplane, and watched airplanes take off and land. He never doubted he'd someday be a pilot, but when his father slid down a mountainside, would he have the skills as a teenager to fly out and get help? Find out how the bush pilot and the bush pilot's son were alike-and different.

"This coming-of-age story details Mark's extraordinary adventures from small boy to grown man. Mark and his father are both rugged outdoorsmen, expert aviators and fierce pioneers in the Alaskan wild, yet, there is the tension of Mark trying to reconcile his father's ways with his own instincts. While honoring his father's way of life, Mark blazes his own trail throughout this excellent book." -Martin Walsh, amateur author and adventure reader

"The Silver Salmon story brought back fond memories of times Doctor Gaede flew Mark over to our set-net site. What a pleasure to see Mark capture these memories in writing." -Sandy Bell

"Like Mark Gaede, I grew up in the sparsely populated Soldotna area and our histories share many similarities-with each other-and to homestead kids across the Kenai Peninsula. "The Alaska Bush Pilot's Son" brings those experiences to life, from the subtleties of childhood play in gravel pits and roadside ditches to our maturing appreciation for the vast, amazing environment in which we have been fortunate to live." -Clark Fair, Kenai Peninsula historian and journalist