Have I mentioned how proud I am of my wife?

Miss D. is winging her way home from Alaska to Tennessee as I write these words. I'm so proud of her, I can't resist bragging on her a bit. She bought her plane, a 1941 Taylorcraft, a few years ago. It's a real flying piece of history: it was in the air on December 7th, 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. It spent World War II as a training aircraft, teaching future Army Air Corps pilots how to fly. After the war, it returned to civilian ownership. It had been bent a bit in a minor accident when Miss D. bought it. The wings were completely disassembled, with the fuselage and engine looking rather forlorn without them.

Very sadly, almost immediately after buying it Miss D. was bent a bit herself, in a car accident that left her almost crippled for several months. That's one reason she and I get along so well. We've both suffered disabling injuries, and know what it is to have to live with pain. When one of us is having a bad day, no excuses are necessary - the other one really does understand what it feels like!

After recovering from the worst effects of her injuries, Miss D. spent much of 2009 working on restoring the ribs and buying new spars. I was able to help here and there during several visits. Last year, shortly after we were married, she went back up to Alaska for several months to rebuild the wings, fit them to the airframe, and do as much as possible to overhaul the engine and fuselage. Again, I was able to do a little bit to help during a visit.




She rejoined me for the last part of the year, leaving her plane with a local facility to complete the final bits and pieces of work. She went back up there in April to test-fly the plane, get her type rating on it, and familiarize herself with its operation. Last week she finally set out homewards, and is currently about 1,500 miles into her 4,000-mile journey.




She's been following the Alcan Highway from Alaska to the USA, a route taken by tens of thousands of aircraft before her (mostly in the other direction) during World War II and afterwards. (Pilots jokingly tell me that 'IFR' doesn't stand for 'Instrument Flight Rules' on the Alcan - it stands for 'I Follow Roads'! They claim that since the Alcan follows the lowest path through the numerous mountains and hills on the route, it's logical for small aircraft to keep it in sight.) The road generally follows the Northwest Staging Route set up for Lend-Lease aircraft being shipped to the Soviet Union during World War II. Most of its airfields are still in operation. (The Soviet side of the air route is described here.)

Northwest Staging Route during World War II (image courtesy of Alaska Highway Archives)

Today Miss D. reached almost the bottom of the Alcan Highway and the Northwest Staging Route. She'll be following more conventional air routes to Montana, where she'll re-enter the USA, and then head South and East for Tennessee.




She's been updating her friends about her progress on her blog, and publishing some lovely photographs taken en route. Here's one from Marsh Lake earlier this week.

(Click the image for a larger view. It's worth it!)

I wish I could be part of the journey with her, but for several reasons that hasn't been possible. Perhaps in the future we'll have some flying adventures together. Meanwhile, I'm more proud of her courage in the face of pain and suffering, and persistence in the face of problems and adversity, than I have words to say. I can't wait to have her home once more.

Peter