the Last of the Bush Pilots

Excellent book if you like aviation stories about Bush Pilots. You might also look for books by his ex wife Constance Helmericks and daughter Jean Aspen

I gotta say that Bud and Martha Helmericks were by far the single greatest influence in my flying life and career over the more than thirty years that I've been doing this stuff. Their courage and ingenuity, sense of adventure, and love of the land and people of Arctic Alaska drew me like a moth to a flame. And it was in their footsteps that I followed, using Bud's writings as a guide in my flying, and as a model in coming to understand the true depth of the people who live there. My life is so much richer because of those two wonderful people and their family, and I am truly blessed to have been able to live and fly, and come to know the lands and people of the far north. I live Lower 48 now, but a huge part of my heart remains north of the Arctic Circle. ... The world is not a better place with Bud Helmericks not in it.

I found this book in a furniture store yrs ago as a decoration. It is an INCREDIBLE book!!!!!!!!!! Harmon's adventures are amazing... death defying... and it is amazing the creative things he did to help people in rugged Alaska... They literally used bailing wire to hold things together. Real seat-of-the-pants stories... I loaned this to at least 4 people to read and even gave a copy to Jimmy Buffett, since he is a avid pilot and adventurer. I made sure I could get a 2nd copy for myself tho! ANYone who likes flying will love this book and not want to get rid of it!!!!!

Harmon Helmericks doesn't just write about flying; he writes about people and place. Mostly he writes about people and he writes so respectfully. He even writes about their foibles without poking fun at them! One of my favorite passages is Chapter 20, 'Kisik,' in which he writes about a Native American couple. He tells a story of two of the world's great people, who he obviously counted as very dear friends. I can't find a mean word about a person in the whole book, and it is primarily a book about people.

Harmon Helmericks spins (no pun intended) a tale of bush pilot aviation at it's finest, from the very beginnings of flying in Alaska. It is guaranteed to make the couch pilot sign up for flying lessons. I did. Hard to put down, a wonderful adventure tale.

This is a good book for any pilot who's dreamed of flying in Alaska. Helmericks was the real thing and he tells his story with great affection and respect for his fellow fliers.