New Bush Plane from the Past

This is a fascinating story about a bush plane factory starting up in Alaska. Growing up I lived in a town that was a base for bush pilots at the south end of Moosehead Lake in Maine. Daily, town residents saw float planes in summer and ski planes in winter, and the Greenville airport tied that in with the wheel plane crowd.

The crowd happened one time each year after the Seaplane Pilots Association Fly-In began half a century ago. A latecomer to the fly-in (meaning maybe ten years in) was the Helio Courier - similar in shape to the ever-popular Cessna 185 Skywagon but with bundles of extra lift from its wings.

I don't keep track of what airplanes are still in production and what ones are finished. It looks like the Helio hasn't been manufactured for awhile. Here's the story of a couple of guys who are committed to starting up production again, this time in Alaska.

A fascinating video:

Building an Airplane Factory... From 75 Year old blueprints