AVSIM Special Feature Bush Flying in FS2002

by Steve "Bearracing" Cartwright November 10, 2002

Just over a year an a half ago (March 5, 2001) I posted a feature on bush flying in North America (you can read this article in the AVSIM feature article North American Bush Flying and we felt it was time to update that prior article to cover the many changes, improvements, and the opportunities that have grown out of Flight Simulator 2002, for this unique form of aviation.

By way of this feature and the links provided here to other topic pages (which in turn provide links to download related files), we're going to be covering the following:

• What is Bush Flying?
• Sceneries:  Custom bush sceneries, mesh and landclass files, improved ground textures, and new auto-gen trees!
• Bush Aircraft:  We've searched and found over 90 freeware bush type aircraft for you to download and fly!
• Piper Cub - SuperCub:  A historical look!
• Don Sheldon:  The bush pilot's pilot!
• AVSIM Bush Adventures:  Don't just read about bush flying, fly AVSIM's bush flying adventures that are included with this feature!
• Bush Flying Techniques:  Screenshot tutorial on short field operations in FS2002!
• Bush Flying Websites & Forums
• Bush Flying Related Books and Mini-reviews

What is Bush Flying?

In the early to mid-part of the 20th Century, many parts of the world were all but inaccessible, except on foot, horseback or dog sled. As the early pioneers and/or adventurers moved further out into these less traveled areas of the world, the need for efficiently providing supplies, medicines, medical assistance, and all of the other needs that would come up—it was the invention of the aircraft that provided the logical answer to these requirements.

Bush flying is a form of flying that was born out of need to move supplies for the early settlers up in the northwestern areas of Canada and of course Alaska, but there also were the early flyers that explored and/or resupplied the remote areas of Africa, South America, Antarctica, and Australia as well.

Bush flying got its earliest start in 1920 in Canada, but it wasn't until the early part of the 1930s that specialized aircraft were being designed for operations on land, water, or snow—and ironically many of the aircraft types based on those early designs are still flying. Flying the bush today (Canada and Alaska) is often written about and presented in a romantic fashion, often telling of the daring adventures and rouge spirit of the bush pilot; but in fact, the bush pilot is usually a highly skilled pilot flying highly maintained specialized aircraft. In the real-world, skilled bush pilots rarely take chances, though to an inexperienced or untrained pilot, it may seem that way, but bush flying in Alaska or Canada is neither forgiving of the foolhardy or the hot-dogger. It is simply a situation of the bush pilot being very familiar with his or her aircraft and his or her aircraft's capabilities, along with being very familiar with the areas they normally fly into.

In the real world there are several difficult things that must be dealt with, including; extreme weather, the terrain itself, and the limitations of the aircraft being used. Most of the time bush flights are done under rather normal conditions, hauling paying customers into remote fishing or hunting lodges, delivering supplies, or any one of a hundred different reasons; but on occasion a bush pilot may be called upon to make a flight that is a matter of life or death.

During the summer (Northern Hemisphere) of 2001, two flight teams made up of Canadian and Alaskan bush pilots flew two identical de Havilland Twin Otters to the South Pole to rescue a critically ill doctor from the American-British research center there. This was the first time that an aircraft had attempted to find the South Pole while the Southern Hemisphere was in the throes of winter. These North American bush pilots not only successfully navigated across thousands of miles of frozen wasteland, they did it under very harsh winter weather conditions and in total darkness—and to complicate matters, neither a compass nor GPS system will function properly at the bottom of the world. When the call came through that they desperately needed to evacuate the doctor, in all the world it was the North American bush pilots that came to the rescue and they successfully accomplished a task that was said to be all but impossible.

Bush type flying in Flight Simulator first began with FS98, and when individuals, like Ron Ackerley, Ken "We Bad" Nelson, or Don Moser made 3rd party add-on bush sceneries available, bush flight simming's popularity grew.

With the introduction of FS2000, nearly three years ago now, the basic foundations provided by this version of Flight Simulator greatly improved bush simming, to such an extent that the number of add-on sceneries and FS aircraft grew to immense proportions.

Bush Flying Screenshots in FS2002:

Flight Simulator 2002 is a wonderful sim for experiencing this form of aviation and with the addition of add-on aircraft, custom sceneries, mesh with improved auto-gen trees, new ground textures, and weather utilities the experience of bush flight simming in North America is getting ever that much closer to the real thing. So popular has this unique form of flight simming become, that now there are even VAs dedicated to this unusual yet demanding form of aviation.
 

Bush Flying Websites & Forums:

For those of you that have more than a passing interest in bush flying, you just may want to check out a couple of the bush flying virtual groups and their forums (hosted right here at AVSIM). Listed here are the bush flying groups; Bush Flyers Unlimited and Alaskan Bush Charters, plus there is the AVSIM Bush.net for those that want to try online bush flying with your new found friends.
 

Bush Flying Unlimited

See the Bush Flying Unlimited website "At home in the wild"

Bush Flying Unlimited Pilot Reporting forum: BFU Job Assignments and Flight Reports.

Bush Flying Unlimited's general forum: The Bush Flying Unlimited General Discussion Forum.

Founders: Naji Chehabeddine, Pete Collis, Peter Ridge, Allen Dawson, Robert Stiles, Henri Kauhanen, Björn Karlsson, and Jure Dolanec.

Although, FS2002 is the predominate sim being used by the BFU pilots, those of you that use Flight Unlimited or FLY will find a home at BFU as well!
 

Alaskan Bush Charters VA

See the Don's Alaskan Bush Charters website.

The Alaskan Bush Charters' general forum: look here.

Alaskan Bush Charters' VA forum: is here.

Alaskan Bush Charters' Pilot Reporting forum: see Alaskan Bush Charters - PIREPS.

Founder: Don Moser.

Alaskan Bush Charters, or ABC as it is best known, was started by Bush Scenery designer Don Moser. Don has been an active member of the bush flying community for some time and he has contributed much to this hobby, with custom sceneries and custom aircraft repaints (Don has even done some repaints for Bush Flyers Unlimited in addition to his own Alaskan Bush Charters). Don's website (Don's Alaskan Bush Charters or Alaska by Don) is hosted here at AVSIM as is his Alaskan Bush Charters - VA forum areas. In addition to the pure bush flights, Don has recently added Jet Charters for those that enjoy flying the big boys (to use Don's words)!

Don's name runs right along side other Flight Simulator bush flying pioneers like Ken Nelson and Ron Ackerley (all starting back with FS98 and earlier). Don is truly one of the good guys and do check out his forum and website for further information.
 

AVSIM VFR Flight Center

See the VFR Flight Center website.

The AVSIM VFR Flight Center is a location where you can download various VFR flight plans and you can read about other pertinent information involving VFR flying in Flight Simulator.
 

The Bush Net

See the The Bush Net general forum.

The bush.net is new and it is just getting off the ground, but if flying online with your friends is up your alley, then give the AVSIM Bush Net a shot!

For learning how to get going with flying online at Bush.net, check out this excellent tutorial on how to do just that. This link will send you to the correct posting to get you up and running online in no time:
Getting Started with Bush Net?
 

Bush Flying Related Books:

For those of you that also would like to read more about the real world of bush flying, there are several excellent books available on the subject, the majority being in the nature of biographies of current and former bush pilots. There are a number of books that are the definitive answer to learning various piloting techniques as well. Interestingly enough, most piloting technique manuals or written instructional materials transfer quite well over to the current version of Flight Simulator, leading one to believe that Flight Simulator has truly elevated up and beyond the levels of being a simple "game" program.

Stick & Rudder by Wolfgang Langewiesche

First published back in the 1930s, this book, by Wolfgang Langewiesche, is still considered the definitive book on understanding the basics of powered flight and is a must read for novice and experienced pilots alike. If you only purchase one single book on aviation, then I suggest you make it this one! The explanations and study covered in this book are the best you'll ever find and the theories discussed here translate equally as well to Flight Simulator as they do to the real thing. If you wish to begin to build on your flight experience starting with the correct foundation, then you owe it to yourself to begin right here!

Wager With the Wind: The Don Sheldon Story by James Greiner (forward by film and television actor; James Arness)

This truly is one of the best books I've read on the subject of bush flying and this book tells the story of living the dream at flying in Alaska with one of America's finest aviation heroes, the late Don Sheldon. Don Sheldon founded his air charter service in the very early days of Alaska in Talkeetna, and everyone, from mountain climbers, hikers, sportsman, and even the US Military came to depend on Don's piloting skills. Flying in a land that is neither tolerant nor forgiving, Don Sheldon's overwhelming understanding of his aircraft's limitations and his uncanny knowledge of the terrain he flew over is well documented in this book. This book is a must read for anyone interested in reading about aviation and its heroes.

Arctic Bush Pilot: the Memoirs of James "Andy" Anderson as told to Jim Rearden

The life and times of former WWII US Navy Combat pilot, James "Andy" Anderson as he started a bush flying business supported by Wein Airlines. I found this book to be one of the better books on bush flying from a pilot's perspective. From it you will learn not just of the experiences of Andy Anderson, but you will learn a great deal about life and living in the far north as well as its people. Very enjoyable reading.

Alaska's Sky Follies; The Funny Side of Flying in the Far North by Joe Rychetnik

A short, yet humorous look at the funnier side of bush flying in Alaska and in it you will read about most of the famous bush pilots of early Alaska as well as some of their exploits. The author of this book, Joe Rychetnik, is a former Alaska State Trooper turned writer, for Time-Life News Service and UPI—Mr. Rychetnik is not telling these stories from an outsiders perspective, but rather from his own experiences flying with Alaska's boldest and best bush pilots.

Water Flying Concepts, 2nd Edition by Dale De Remer Ph.D.

This is an advanced training manual for seaplane operations, mostly as applied to wilderness flying. Every detail is covered, from understanding the mathematics of seaplane aerodynamics, wilderness flight planning, to the proper care of your float plane. Dale De Remer Ph.D. is also a Professor for the Center of Aerospace Sciences at the University of North Dakota. Having logged well over 18,000 hours flying seaplanes, Dr. Dale De Remer is more than qualified to write this manual. It is an important read for those interested in learning all there is to know involving seaplane operations.

The Arctic Fox by Don C. Braun-Maxwell W. Ward-John C. Warren (true life story of Canadian Arctic Bush Pilot Don C. Braun)

In one of the few books written on a Canadian bush pilot, The Arctic Fox is well written and those that have reviewed it give it a big thumbs up. Don C. Braun was one of the very earliest bush pilot pioneers and helped establish the charter air service of Wardair. Though an American, Don C. Braun served with the Canadian Air Force in WWII and then continued his aviation profession flying in the bush country of British Columbia and the Yukon Territories.

In the Shadow of Eagles by Jim Rearden

The true-life adventures of Alaska bush pilot, Rudy Billberg. From midwestern barnstorming to the wilds of Alaska, Rudy Billberg was one of the early pioneers of bush flying; Jim Reardon tells Rudy Billberg's life story in his typical expert fashion.

Heroes of the Horizon by Gerry Bruder

Heroes of the Horizon tells the stories of several of the early pioneers of bush flying, between the 1930s and the mid-1950s. This book also tells of the early history of Alaska and the important contribution that aviation made in its development.

Flying the Alaska Wild; The Adventures and Misadventures of an Alaskan Bush Pilot by Mort Mason

The author of this book, Mort Mason, is the bush pilot that experienced almost limitless adventures; his explanation of the way he got himself out of trouble on one occasion after another is well worth the time to read. Readers of this book have all given Mr. Mason 5 stars for his work, Flying the Alaska Wild.

True North; Exploring the Great Wilderness by Bush Plane by George Erickson

Less a story of heroes and more a travel log for a trip made by Mr. Erickson in his Piper SuperCub (floats), Mr. Erickson spends a great deal of time explaining the history of the Yukon territory, history of navigation, and the scientific & geological aspects of the people and places he encountered on his trip. Actually quite interesting reading.

Frank Barr; Bush Pilot in Alaska and the Yukon by Dermot Cole

Another life and times book about a true to life bush pilot, this time it's Frank Barr. One reviewer stated "...a pleasant read for a winter's evening." —Tundra Times

Bush Pilots of Alaska by Kim Heacox

This book contains 192 Fred Hirschmann photographs (Gen. Chuck Yeager claims this to be the best part of this book, and he loved the book) with the afterword written by former Alaska Governor (and bush pilot) Jay Hammond and the preface by Lowell Thomas Jr. (former Alaska Lieutenant Governor and bush pilot). This an excellent book and reads very well; it will hold your interest throughout, but the bush images of professional photographer Fred Hirschmann are nothing short of spectacular!

Each of these books is available at amazon.com.