Alaska Aviation Museum, Lake Hood, Anchorage

The Alaskan Historical Aircraft Society was formed in 1977 and by 1988 had collected sufficient exhibits to open to the public as the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum. Located on the south bank of Lake Hood Seaplane Base, just half a mile from the terminals at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, and next to the Rust's Flying Service base, it has a fascinating collection of aircraft that helped establish aviation as a prime means of transport in Alaska.

it is also a great place to observe seaplane activity on the Lake. The control cab has a balcony with a few seats that are ideal for viewing and photographing the seaplanes.

Several of the aircraft are flown regularly, and the Stinson Reliant was being prepared for attendance at the Palmer Aviation Gathering. I watched it later taking off from Ted Stevens, and later still at the Gathering itself. They also have the DC-6 displayed further around the lake shore, a Fairchild 24 in the South Terminal at Ted Stevens, and a C-47 and C-119 stored on the airfield. These are all on my Ted Stevens A-D page.

I spent a lot of 5 May here, unfortunately a day when there was a dining function in one of the hangars, causing the three aircraft in it, including the Pilgrim and the Goose, to be crowded into a corner, making photgraphing them less than optimal.

Aircraft Reg'n Thumbs Notes
Beech C18S (UC-45F) floatplane N1047B Ex USAF 44-47342, N8011H, CF-PSU.
Bell UH-1H Iroquois 65-12849 US Army
Boeing 737-200C-Adv N740AS Alaska Airlines. Combi version "Mud Hen" with gravel deflector. Served Alaska from new to retirement (1981-2007).
Canadian Vickers OA-10 Canso (Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina) N57875 Ex US Navy 67918, USAF 44-33954, N44BY. Made a forced landing in Dago Lake, Alaska in 1947. Recovered and brought to the museum in 1984.
Curtiss P-40E Warhawk 40-598 USAF.Restoration hangar
Douglas DC-6 (C-118A) N43872 Northern Air Cargo. Displayed by the lake, about a mile east of the Museum. Ex USAF 53-3294.
Fairchild (American Airplane & Engine Corp) 100B Pilgrim NC709Y (N709Y) Rebuilt by the Museum in the early 2010s and on the National Register of Historic Places since 1980.
Grumman G-21A (JRF-5) Goose N789 Ex US Navy 84807, US Department of the Interior Fish & Wildlife Service
Grumman G-44A Widgeon N13122 McKinnon Super Widgeon conversion. Ex USN J4F-2 32958, then N69T, N89T, CF-KKF.
Helio H-295 Super Courier N6319V Built as a rare HT-295 Trigear Courier.
McDonnell Douglas F-15A Eagle 74-0084 74-084 USAF
Noorduyn UC-64AS Norseman N725E Interior Airways, which went on to become MarkAir. Ex USAF 43-35433 and awaiting restoration.
Observation Cab   The Orin Seybert Tower cab served Merrill Field from 1962 to 2002.
Piasecki CH-21B Work Horse 54-4004 0-44004 USAF
Piper PA-18A Super Cub N2869P (NR2869P)  
Radioplane OQ-19B   US Army Basic Training Target (BTT)
Republic RC-3 Seabee N66CB  
Sikorsky S-43 front fuselage N15062 NC15062 Ex Reeve Aleutian Airways. Was used as a boat for a while.
Ski exhibit    
Stearman C2B (C2M) N5415 (NC5415) Built in 1929, this made the first landing and rescue on Mount McKinley (Denali) in 1932.
Stinson V-74 Vigilant (L-1A, L-1F, O-49A) 41-18915 118915 USAF. Ex N704, N704E, NR1ZS (N1ZS)
Stinson Vultee V-77 Reliant 1 N79458 Ex USAF 42-46675, RAF FK849. More photos on my Palmer Gathering page.
Taylorcraft BC-12D Twosome N5028M  
Taylorcraft L-2M Grasshopper N49178 ex 43-26509 326509 USAF
Taylorcraft L-2MK Grasshopper N47648  
Travel Air S-6000B NC8159 N8159 Al Jones Airways
Waco YKC-S floatplane N14066 (NC14066) Dillingham Air Service

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